Introduction
The Quilting Arts Magazine annually publishes an eBook of various articles that have appeared in the magazine that collectively embrace a common theme. This year the title of its eBook is: "Dye Your Own Fabric". The editor of the magazine, Vivika DeNegre, wrote in the eBook preface: "We’ve gathered a collection of articles that showcase a variety of techniques for creating one-of-a-kind hand-dyed fabrics. From textured shibori to flat dyeing, iced parfaits to snow resists, you’ll be surprised by the many ways you can add color to cloth."
Quilting Arts eBook can be purchased from the "Interweave Shop"
I will not pretend that I am not biased about this eBook, since I authored one of the ten selected articles. Nevertheless I would like to give you a taster of what the book contains so that if you are excited about its contents (as I am) it is well worth purchasing in order to add it to your "hands-on" library.
An eBook Taster - "Dye Your Own Fabric"
The ten articles are well illustrated, colorful and informative in terms of developing a step-by-step process or by making the dyeing process an event. These are "how to do" articles rather than "display the outcome" articles. Each artist has a unique approach to impart skills that are required to produce an end result. However, they are not Master Classes in the sense of building on previous learnt skill sets and polishing the techniques to a high degree of sophistication. I will give only a taster of each authors' work.
Robin Ferrier - Out Door Flat Dyeing
"The type of dyeing that I prefer, flat dyeing, is actually a method of low-immersion dyeing done on a flat surface. This is not a new concept, but it’s one I’ve refined to suit not only the type of work I do, but also the space and materials I have to work with. The results of this dye technique are gorgeous hand-dyed solid fabrics with a slightly mottled texture."
"Using flat dyeing, all of these fabrics can be dyed at the same time."
Kristine Lundblad - A Party To Dye For!
"Artists who dye their own fabric may think the same thing ... dyeing is a messy process and requires a lot of advance preparation. With just a little thoughtful planning, however, anyone can host a dyeing party. And who doesn’t love an invitation to play in someone else’s studio?"
"I asked for suggestions from a few recent Quilting Arts contributors—April Sproule, Robin Ferrier, Carol Ludington, and Lynda Heines — who graciously offered thoughtful insights that made my party a success."
Jeannie Palmer Moore - Preserving The White
"I recently challenged myself to experiment with different ways of preserving the white of the fabric before I dyed it. As a watercolor painter, I am familiar with using resists on paper, but I needed to find out more about resists on fabric. I decided to test two different resist products: white screen printing ink and Presist, with two different dye treatments: a pre-reduced indigo dye vat and Procion MX dyes."
“Golden Indigo; 12" × 12" Cotton and canvas fabrics; screened with Presist and white screen printing ink resists; dyed using an indigo dye vat and Procion dyes; finished with free-motion machine stitching and embellishments."
Marcia Derse - Dye Your Own Cloth
"My dyeing process has evolved over time. The chemistry and techniques were gleaned primarily from surface design classes taught by Liz Axford, Connie Schele, Cherie St. Cyr, and Sue Benner. Over the years I tweaked and changed their processes until I came up with a methodology that works for me. Use the instructions that follow as a guideline to create your own unique one-of-a-kind fabrics."
"Over-dyeing hand-dyed fabric allows for infinite color combinations and interesting patterns when you use a resist as one step in the process. The resist preserves the original color of the fabric, and the second layer of dye transforms a simple hand dye to a piece of complex cloth."
Joanell Connolly - Through Thick & Thin
"Your own collection of designer silk fabrics is within your grasp. By using thickened silk dyes and an array of surface design tools, you can create fabric in an endless variety of colors and patterns."
"Create designer fabrics with thickened silk dyes."
Lynda Heines - Ice Dyeing
"My first attempt at dyeing fabric with fiber-reactive dye occurred this past winter using snow. I loved the vivid results I was able to achieve and wanted to continue dyeing, but the snowy season was over. Because snow is made up of ice crystals, I decided to experiment with ice cubes. Using ice cubes to dye fabric offers year-round results very similar to snow dyeing."
"But best of all, I’ve found that when using ice cubes, the colors are even brighter!"
Carol Ludington - Dye Your Own Iced Parfait
"My favorite hand-dyed fabrics have lots of movement and texture, and have been the result of snow dyeing, parfait dyeing, and ice dyeing. I like the way each of these techniques yields vibrant color and unexpected patterns, while being relatively simple to do in the small space of my studio. I wanted to find a way to combine the best of these techniques and create my own fabrics. The result is what I call my “icedparfait” technique; it allows me to dye multiple pieces of fabric simultaneously and achieve gorgeous combinations of vibrant color."
"I was first inspired to try ice dyeing after seeing Lynda Heines’ article in the August/September 2011 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine."
Judi Jakab - Snow Resist Dyeing
"I was inspired by an online dyeing group to try this technique. One of the gals in the group showed us how to do it and I loved the results she got. Sadly, I had to wait two months in order to have snow to try it. Once I tried it, I loved the texture it created on the fabric and the rest is history."
"I have dyed more than 1,000 yards of fabric this way and sell the finished product at quilt shows and online."
Marie-Therese Wisniowski - New Landscapes
"Over the past decade, I have experimented with handprinting techniques using disperse dyes on synthetic fabrics. These experiments have led me to a new technique I call multisperse dye sublimation (MSDS)."
"MSDS employs disperse dyes using numerous color plates, multiple resists (low-relief plant materials) which are overprinted in layers."
Sue Cavanaugh - Extreme Shibori
"When I started dyeing my own fabric, I was especially drawn to stitch-resist shibori. Shibori is the Japanese term for various methods of shaped-resist dyeing, including pole wrapping, clamping, folding, and binding. As a lifelong hand stitcher, I found the stitches of shibori especially compelling. I started putting different stitches together to form a pattern, and experimented with slight changes to the stitches to alter the pattern."
"My current series of wholecloth quilts uses an adaptation of the mokume stitch and the ori-nui stitch."
The Quilting Arts Magazine annually publishes an eBook of various articles that have appeared in the magazine that collectively embrace a common theme. This year the title of its eBook is: "Dye Your Own Fabric". The editor of the magazine, Vivika DeNegre, wrote in the eBook preface: "We’ve gathered a collection of articles that showcase a variety of techniques for creating one-of-a-kind hand-dyed fabrics. From textured shibori to flat dyeing, iced parfaits to snow resists, you’ll be surprised by the many ways you can add color to cloth."
I will not pretend that I am not biased about this eBook, since I authored one of the ten selected articles. Nevertheless I would like to give you a taster of what the book contains so that if you are excited about its contents (as I am) it is well worth purchasing in order to add it to your "hands-on" library.
An eBook Taster - "Dye Your Own Fabric"
The ten articles are well illustrated, colorful and informative in terms of developing a step-by-step process or by making the dyeing process an event. These are "how to do" articles rather than "display the outcome" articles. Each artist has a unique approach to impart skills that are required to produce an end result. However, they are not Master Classes in the sense of building on previous learnt skill sets and polishing the techniques to a high degree of sophistication. I will give only a taster of each authors' work.
Robin Ferrier - Out Door Flat Dyeing
"The type of dyeing that I prefer, flat dyeing, is actually a method of low-immersion dyeing done on a flat surface. This is not a new concept, but it’s one I’ve refined to suit not only the type of work I do, but also the space and materials I have to work with. The results of this dye technique are gorgeous hand-dyed solid fabrics with a slightly mottled texture."
Kristine Lundblad - A Party To Dye For!
"Artists who dye their own fabric may think the same thing ... dyeing is a messy process and requires a lot of advance preparation. With just a little thoughtful planning, however, anyone can host a dyeing party. And who doesn’t love an invitation to play in someone else’s studio?"
Jeannie Palmer Moore - Preserving The White
"I recently challenged myself to experiment with different ways of preserving the white of the fabric before I dyed it. As a watercolor painter, I am familiar with using resists on paper, but I needed to find out more about resists on fabric. I decided to test two different resist products: white screen printing ink and Presist, with two different dye treatments: a pre-reduced indigo dye vat and Procion MX dyes."
Marcia Derse - Dye Your Own Cloth
"My dyeing process has evolved over time. The chemistry and techniques were gleaned primarily from surface design classes taught by Liz Axford, Connie Schele, Cherie St. Cyr, and Sue Benner. Over the years I tweaked and changed their processes until I came up with a methodology that works for me. Use the instructions that follow as a guideline to create your own unique one-of-a-kind fabrics."
Joanell Connolly - Through Thick & Thin
"Your own collection of designer silk fabrics is within your grasp. By using thickened silk dyes and an array of surface design tools, you can create fabric in an endless variety of colors and patterns."
Lynda Heines - Ice Dyeing
"My first attempt at dyeing fabric with fiber-reactive dye occurred this past winter using snow. I loved the vivid results I was able to achieve and wanted to continue dyeing, but the snowy season was over. Because snow is made up of ice crystals, I decided to experiment with ice cubes. Using ice cubes to dye fabric offers year-round results very similar to snow dyeing."
Carol Ludington - Dye Your Own Iced Parfait
"My favorite hand-dyed fabrics have lots of movement and texture, and have been the result of snow dyeing, parfait dyeing, and ice dyeing. I like the way each of these techniques yields vibrant color and unexpected patterns, while being relatively simple to do in the small space of my studio. I wanted to find a way to combine the best of these techniques and create my own fabrics. The result is what I call my “icedparfait” technique; it allows me to dye multiple pieces of fabric simultaneously and achieve gorgeous combinations of vibrant color."
Judi Jakab - Snow Resist Dyeing
"I was inspired by an online dyeing group to try this technique. One of the gals in the group showed us how to do it and I loved the results she got. Sadly, I had to wait two months in order to have snow to try it. Once I tried it, I loved the texture it created on the fabric and the rest is history."
Marie-Therese Wisniowski - New Landscapes
"Over the past decade, I have experimented with handprinting techniques using disperse dyes on synthetic fabrics. These experiments have led me to a new technique I call multisperse dye sublimation (MSDS)."
Sue Cavanaugh - Extreme Shibori
"When I started dyeing my own fabric, I was especially drawn to stitch-resist shibori. Shibori is the Japanese term for various methods of shaped-resist dyeing, including pole wrapping, clamping, folding, and binding. As a lifelong hand stitcher, I found the stitches of shibori especially compelling. I started putting different stitches together to form a pattern, and experimented with slight changes to the stitches to alter the pattern."
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