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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Tips & Tricks A new Dye Thread

Discussion in 'Costuming and Props' started by GentleBant, Apr 8, 2002.

  1. kay_dee

    kay_dee Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2002
    Thanks :) I really don't have that many amazing costumes under my belt. My next Padme project will require a ton of dying though. I'll be using that amazing effect you spoke about, when you dye fabrics made of two different fibers! (I need the silk backing on my velvet to be pale blue, but not overdye the ivory rayon pile. I'm pretty sure the acid dye will do the trick.)

    Thanks for posting your dye samples. Interesting, your rayon came out lighter than your silk? Did you use acid dye on that one? When I've used Procion dye on silk/rayon blends I find that the rayon takes up the dye really dark! At least with rayon velvet pile on silk backing.

    - Kay Dee
     
  2. JainaMSolo

    JainaMSolo Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    It's also possible to get a gradient dye effect by simply painting the dye onto the fabric. That's how I did my rainbow dress-- I sewed the dress together except for the CB seam, spread it out on some dropcloths, and painted the dye where I wanted it to go. Took a couple hours, was pretty hard on the back, but I had total control of where the dye went and I was really happy with the results:

    [image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/jainamsolo/DSCN0276.jpg]

    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/senior_ball_1.jpg]

    The fabric was silk charmeuse, the dye was RIT in four colors: golden yellow, rose pink, evening blue, royal blue.
     
  3. Queen_Apailana

    Queen_Apailana Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2005
    I have a question as normal.

    Why us it bad to leave fabric in a dye bath for longer then a hour?
     
  4. Maulested

    Maulested Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2005
    That's really beautiful. Yep, painting works really well, too if you have the space. I've done a lot of it using Seta color paints that are heliographic, meaning that they develop their color in the sun. Sponge brushes will give you more intense colors and traditional brushes give you lighter colors. Now you guys make me want to go out and dye something! (Even though I have been banned from dyeing in the house.)

    Kay-Dee- If memory serves me correct the silks were dyed with Procion in the microwave. (I LOVE it! Totally addicting!) They were silk/rayon satin fabric swatches I bought from a discount bin in LA, so there's probably something else in there that might have made them come out like that. I have some other swatches that I know were silk/rayon devore. I'll try to find them. I don't know much about acid dyes. I've only really used Procion and Jaquard. I learned everything about dying from a woman named Dianne Ricks, who's a pretty famous wearable art designer. If you get stuck with anything, it would be easy enough to ask her. She teaches in the room next to my ethnic dress class and has dyed everything from acrylic fabrics to ribbons.

    So I'm having issues with dyeing something... I made a really cool Sidious cloak for myself and the fabric is exactly like the costume, except it was a lighter navy blue shade. Same knit pattern, everything. I've Rit dyed it about three times and now it's darker midnight blue. I did a burn test to make sure it's cotton and it is. I made sure to prep the fabric with Synthropol before dyeing. I don't really know what to do with it right now. It weighs about 4-5 pounds so I'd need a lot of dye to dye it and I'm not sure if Procion would do it or if I'd need something stronger. Hmm... If anyone has any ideas...
     
  5. JainaMSolo

    JainaMSolo Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    Thanks! :)

    In my experience, it's really hard to get a true dark black with RIT. I'd say go for Procion, but then I've never actually used it myself. You could try the Dylon packets they have at Jo-Ann; it seems to dye nicer than RIT.
     
  6. spacelady

    spacelady Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 16, 2003
    JainaMSolo, which dye brand did you use? And how did you "paint" it onto the fabric? Did you use a normal paint brush or something?

    I'm working on a costume with a few different colors in it and I've got some difficult places to dye, and I think this technique of dying the fabric would really help me out. :p

    ~Spacelady
     
  7. JainaMSolo

    JainaMSolo Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    Spacelady, as I said in my post: The fabric was silk charmeuse, the dye was RIT in four colors: golden yellow, rose pink, evening blue, royal blue.

    I simply made up the dye in bins (I used Gladware; fairly big, resealable, and disposable) and then painted it on with sponge brushes from Michael's.
     
  8. spacelady

    spacelady Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 16, 2003
    Oops. Didn't read that last part... was too busy looking at the colors and trying to figure it out. :p [face_blush]

    Hm... Interesting. I'll have to try it for my costume. Thanks. :)

    ~Spacelady
     
  9. SWCostumer

    SWCostumer Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 31, 2005
    It is always interesting to see how imaginative you all get with dyes. For my latest gradient dying projects (2 smallish cloaks and 2 large cloaks), I used Dharma's Pigment dye system. The 2 small cloaks are painted to look like a sunset, one large cloak is late sunset with a solar pillar and the other is based on the anime ".hack". All of them were painted with 2" paint brushes and the fabric laying in my driveway. This stuff works on both silk and cotton. And to set it you just iron it or pop it into the dryer once it is dry. You do need a good working knowledge of color theory though or you will end up with a color you don't want (such as never let the blue meet the yellow if you don't want green, red is a good buffer).

    Using acid dye is almost as easy as using Rit. You can either add the vinegar part way into the dying process or add it at the beginning. Then for one color gradient dying, just make sure to get the water as hot as possible and as said in a prior post, put the garment in and repeatedly dunk it but progressively dunk less and less. I would then rinse it out as much as possible from one end of the garment to the other and then wash it like you would any other dye job.
     
  10. Queen_Apailana

    Queen_Apailana Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2005
    Okay I have a problem. I ordered silk velvet from silkconnection.com and it came in today, well I take it out and something does not loook right, it does not look totally white. I then compare it to my china silk, which I also ordered it looks a disgusting yellow compared to it so I go fetch other white items and compare the velvet. The velvet appears to be this disgusting off white/yellow color. I needed the velvet to be just white for my king kong dress and well it is not. Should I just contact silkconnection or bleach the fabric (if bleaching silk velvet is even possible, I don't know if it will damage the fibers). I don't know where to post this but this deals with fabric colors. So does anyone know what I should do?
     
  11. spacelady

    spacelady Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 16, 2003
    You might be better off if you contact the silkconnections. There's a chance the velvet won't take well to the bleach and maybe they can exchange your velvet with better velvet?

    ~Spacelady
     
  12. Queen_Apailana

    Queen_Apailana Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2005
    I e-mailed them and guess what...the e-mail does not work Yahoo sent the e-mail back to me saying they were unable to send it. I am starting to freak out and become angery.
     
  13. kay_dee

    kay_dee Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2002
    I'm pretty sure Silk Connection has a phone number. For some reason people have had trouble with their e-mail addy. I'd call them and explain they fabric they sent was damaged and yellow. I would not mess with trying to bleach it.

    Keep in mind that the velvet is usually not pure pristine white, It's usually slightly off-white (not yellow though). The natural white should match the king kong white (I saw that dress in person and it was more of a bone white than a pure white).

    - kay dee

    - Kay Dee
     
  14. Queen_Apailana

    Queen_Apailana Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2005
    Thanks kay_dee it is this yucky yellow. Of course for my luck as you posted this I created a new thread *hits self on head*
     
  15. Cailina

    Cailina Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 1999
    Should I just contact silkconnection or bleach the fabric (if bleaching silk velvet is even possible, I don't know if it will damage the fibers).


    Definitely don't use chlorine bleach(aka the normal household stuff) on silk velvet. Not only is it likely to damage the fibers but it can turn the silk an even yuckier shade of yellow. I tried bleaching a small square of silk noil(to see if it would damage the fabric among other things) and it turned this really putrid shade of yellow. I believe it has something to do with the fact that silk is a protein. You could try "bleaching" a swatch with hydrogen peroxide, it might make the fabric whiter.

    Here's a website that has a method for bleaching wool with hydrogen peroxide. It would probably work well with silk too. I just used plain hydrogen peroxide in a futile attempt to remove some dye I messed up. It didn't remove the dye but it did make the surrounding fabric a little whiter than it was before(it was an off-white to begin with). I would definitely try calling Silk Connection first though.
     
  16. Queen_Apailana

    Queen_Apailana Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2005
    I just got done having an e-mail converstion with a silk connection employee (just use the jacquard company e-mail and they will get you through). She said I could send in a swatch to see if it is the correct color but if I caut a peice I can not return it and it would just confirm the fact that I will proboly never order from them again which makes me sad because they carry tussah. This was my first time ordering silk online and you can see well it did not go good. She also said there is really no product that will whiten the silk velvet, so now I have 5yds of silk velvet for some prodject. I guess I am quite upset because I have heard great things about this company, but the silk velvet I have under no light can pass for white and I really wanted to use silk velvet in this dres but maybe I will just go with reliable rayon and pray I get white. I know this maybe is not there companies fault it is most likely just my ignorance with fabrics. I just wish this whole expierence could have been better and I will proboly just put Ann away, the pattern is well horrible the fabric expierence has been horrible and I just want to go to Jo-anns to get fabric in the color I know I will get. Instead of Ann for the party/dance I will maybe make CJ's gown from the west wing no velvet just satin in blue and white and maybe if I decided to maek the wrap I will use my extra velvet. I am upset but am thankful to any one that helpedme or responded I hope your white silk velvet incedents do not go as bad as mine did.


    Hannah

    P.S. Sorry for the bad grammer [face_whistling]

    EDIT: I just remeber I was also going to order their burn out spot velevt in case I decided to do the navy velvet cloak. Why does a company that causes me such a headsche (proboly from my own accord, but I know relize the beauty of a swatch) crries fabric I may someday need. This day keeps getting worse and worse.
     
  17. kay_dee

    kay_dee Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2002
    Wow, I'm very surprised you could not arrange for them to send you new fabric. You couldn't send them a picture of it to confirm they sent you damaged yellow fabric? You couldn't simply sent them back the entire thing of fabric to be replaced with white? Something tells me you should not have backed down in any way. Stay firm and say 'this is not accetable, you need to fix it. This fabric is not white, it is not what I ordered.'

    - Kay Dee
     
  18. kay_dee

    kay_dee Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2002
    Queen_Apailana - for the heck of it I just looked at all my swatch samples from silk connection and the white silk/rayon velvet is white, similar to an egg shell. I don't know if that will help if you call them to get things resolved (they have a 1 800 number). I wouldn't rely on e-mail, it's too easy for them to drop the ball.

    Thai Silks also sells natural white silk/rayon velvet. I actually think theirs is a lighter weight than what Silk Connection carries (it feels more fluid) and would make a beautiful dress! But it is a bit more expensive at about 17 dollars a yard.

    - Kay Dee
     
  19. SWCostumer

    SWCostumer Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 31, 2005
    You can also try Dharma Trading (www.dharmatrading.com) for silk velvet. There prices are 1-9yds/$11.99 per yard, 10+ yards/ $10.99 per yard and full bolt/ $9.99 per yard. They also have samples for $.25 a piece so you could confirm the color before ordering. Plus they have always been fairly helpful over the phone.
     
  20. Naboo_Girl

    Naboo_Girl Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 13, 2003
    Hey Everyone!

    Wow, it's been a long time since I posted.

    Anyways, I'm working right now on Padme's Peacock gown from Epi III and I just bought the Alter Ego Dyes from Dharma Trading to dye my velvet for the overcoat. The problem is that they didn't come with any instructions on how to use them and I tried contacting Dharma through email, but my email came back.

    What I was wondering is if anyone who has Alter Ego Dyes before might have instruction for them? I know pretty much how use them, but what I don't know is how much dye to use per yard and how much vineger and salt also to use? If anyone could help me that would be awesome!

    Thanks!
     
  21. princessleia911

    princessleia911 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 25, 2005
    I had a friend of mine make me hakama-like pants for a female Jedi I am wearing but the fabric is the wrong color. It is ecru and it is supposed to be beige(almost exact match for RIT beige). The fabric is raw silk noil. Anyone got any suggestions for me like which dye I should use and which method? I do have a front loading washer so does that mean the washing machine method is out for me?
     
  22. SWCostumer

    SWCostumer Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 31, 2005
    From the description of the color, it sounds like they used undyed silk noil. (I have a new 50yd bolt of the stuff and that is the base color it comes in.)

    For all of my silk dying, I use Jacquard Acid dye. With this all you need is some non-iodized salt and white vinegar (the acid). This can all be added together and placed in a washing machine. You should check to be sure that the fabric was pre-shrunk as silk noil will shrink in the hot water required for this method. With most modern washing machines, you will need to keep stopping the load before it drains to reset it so that the pants are in for about 20 minutes.

    While you can use Rit or a Procion dye, the color charts on those dyes are based on 100% cotton fiber which is a plant fiber/protein whereas silk is an animal fiber/protein. So the color may not turn out to match the chart. Using an acid dye, the color will match the chart.

    As has been listed on this thread before, one of the best web sites for info on dyes and dying is www.dharmatrading.com . You can find color charts there and further info on dying.

    Good luck.
    Nancy
     
  23. princessleia911

    princessleia911 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 25, 2005
    Thanks, I will check it out!!! I have been on Dharma Trading but this thread had some older info on and I wondered if anyone has been dyeing stuff more recently especially silk. I will have to find out if it was preshrunk or not? Is there a way to tell? Over my Internet travels, I heard someone complaining about a smell associated with silk noil. Is this what you or anyone has experienced?
     
  24. JainaMSolo

    JainaMSolo Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    Yes, silk noil (aka raw silk) has its own distinct odor. It will pretty much always smell like that. It's not a bad smell, really, it's just there.

    If ordering dyes from Dharma and dealing with all the extra stuff is a bit much (and it was for me, as a beginner), RIT will work perfectly well for dyeing silk, you just need to do swatches ahead of time to see what color and intensity you're going to get. Actually, swatching beforehand is always best with any kind of dyeing, so you know what you're getting and don't have a nasty shock when you dye your whole garment and find out it's not what you expected.
     
  25. princessleia911

    princessleia911 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 25, 2005
    Thanks, JainaMSolo, did you add vinegar to it to make it an acid dye? I read somewhere that you could dissolve the RIT dye in hot water and add white vinegar to it and simmer it to turn it into almost an acid dye. But thanks again so much, while I am not new to sewing(just very busy), I have NO experience with fabric dyeing so any help is appreciated.