Dyeing Threads(Lots of Photos)

First, I hope all those in the United States had a fabulous 4th of July. I did!

I decided about a week ago to start dyeing threads for my Quaker Puzzle Ball. Why? Because I did not have enough of any one thread to stitch the piece up and I have white floss and dye.
First, I got this technique from      Melanie Testa  . Her book Inspired to Quilt has this technique in it.
Anyway,  I used Intense Blue and Silk Black by ProChemical

 And I put two different colors of floss on Stitch bows (a mystery blue and white)

 Stuck them in bags:

 Then I made my "soda ash" which is to get the pH correct for dyeing.

 We normally use a heaping 1/3 cup per gallon of water, but I just guessed:

 I soaked my threads in the soda ash:

 And then I mixed my dyes while wearing gloves:

 First up was blue:

 Test the color!( A very important step that I did not do later!)

 It was too bright so I started adding black dye powder:

 First try:

 Till I finally got what I thought I wanted:

 Into the bags went the dye! Just enough to soak the threads.

 After 24 hours I started the rinse process. Rinsing is why they are on stitch-bows. First cold water:

 Then hot water:

 I then  add a little synthrapol to aid in getting the dye from my threads.

 Then I placed my threads on paper towels to let them dry.

 But they still had dye coming out!

 So I got in a hurry and bundled the original mystery blues together and soaked them in soda ash:

Then I just mixed up some black dye with a little blue(but I didn't test it!)

 I was afraid they would be too dark so I pulled them out of the dye bath after 2 hours:

 After rinsing and rinsing and rinsing, this is what I had:

The threads on the left were the mystery blue, the ones on the bottom were the original white one and the ones to the right were thrown in during the last dye section. The bobinnated thread is marked 311 and is probably DMC. The dyed threads are all slightly variegated, but it is subtle. A lot of work and time. but they will be fun to stitch with.

Return to the Townhouse

I have started working on my Gay Ann Roger's Townhouse again. Class ends this week and I have not made much progress. And as can be seen by the picture, I need to do some reverse stitching.... I already had to redo the door. Sigh.

Well, I finally finished the piece for my friend. I will try to post a picture of it soon. No points given for it since I had to buy threads and fabric to do it. I did use a pattern I have owned for ages...Does that count?

Like a crazy woman, I plan on dying threads tomorrow. Have I finished with the threads I have already dyed? NO! Do I know what I am going to do with these? NO! Luckily my local librarians are joining me in this insanity....

Dyeing Questions

I don't have any pictures of my threads yet, but hopefully will be ready next time I post.

For those of you who haven't dyed before, the salt acts as a reactant with the dye to force the dye into the fabric or fiber. There are other more expensive products out there, but my friend who does this a lot uses salt.

Soda ash is commonly used to set the dye, but my friend said I could use baking soda. I always have that around and it is very cheap! I used it on my threads yesterday and I will find out if it worked. If not, I will add vinegar to the bags and set my dyes that way. It should work.

My local library has a big meeting room that several of us gather in and do art. We are making floor cloths with canvas this month along with dyeing fabrics and threads. Th local quilters also meet there monthly.

I had lots of extra dye from my experiment even with a friend using some to dye background for a wall hanging she is making. So I ran out and bought some t-shirts for the kids and we are dying those. I spent $11 at the quilt show for the dyes and instructions. Well worth the money!

Dyeing

Today I finally took time to dye some threads with the dyes I bought at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. It took more time than I planned, but boy, was it fun.

First I had to mix three dye baths:yellow, red and blue. From them I measured 30 different dye baths of shades of the three colors. Below is the picture of my 30 baths. By the way, I made this mess at my local library. I do not have this kind of space in my house.

After mixing the baths, I started dyeing my threads. I used DMC floss and #5 pearle cotton in white. I had raided all the craft stores in the area to get enough thread. I am sure the clerks thought I was a little nuts!

I added a few spoonfuls of dye to each bag that contained my treads. Then I squished the dye into the threads so that the dye was incorporated into them. I wanted the treads to be completely dyed, but not a solid color-more a variegated look. I decided not to mix colors within the threads, but let them be a single value of one color. I had to leave before they were done, but mixed in some salt so the dyes will react overnight. Tomorrow I hope to return and add the baking soda and start rinsing. I will take more pictures when I am done

Yes, I do have a project for all these threads. Hopefully I will have enough as it will be hard to recreate the exact threads again...The dyes are from ProChemical and the dyeing idea came from Melanie Testa. She is the author of the book Inspired by Quilts.
ProChemicals website is: http://www.prochemical.com