Super Easy Low Immersion Dyeing with Colourcraft!

The idea of dyeing your own fabric can feel a bit overwhelming...different chemicals to think of, special equipment etc etc. Guess what, it does not have to be complicated at all!!! This week using the procion dye starter kit (plus an extra color or so), some basic measuring equipment(make this for dyeing only!) and prewashed fabric (no softeners!), I got some fabulous, festive results in Fall colors!!

I started with the starter kit, in addition to everything else, you also need containers that your fabric fits in when scrunched up- here I have a jar and a couple of small plastic buckets.
My fabric is just prewashed- it's dry and not treated with anything! Scrunch it up into those containers!

Next I blended about a teaspoon of each color I wanted to use with about ½ cup of tap hot water.  I took my inspiration from Autumn leaves- Olive green, Vivid yellow, Scarlett, Orange and Violet.Then it's just pouring it over your scrunched up fabrics! You can use pipettes, you can also start with some dye in the bottom of your container, squish in the fabric, add water, squish some more, add another dye color. It's all about experimentation! 

You can see how the dyes sometimes split when creeping along the dry fabric- especially in the top photo.

How long this step takes is up to you! If you fix your fabrics too soon- you won't get a lot of the beautiful effects that happen over time. If you wait too long- your colors will blend together and become diffuse. The process takes from 15 minutes to an hour. 

While my fabrics were doing their thing- I blended together the fixative (soda ash) with hot water. I use 1 tsp per cup- the tricky part is that is per cup of total liquid- that is, the liquid you had in your dyes as well. I estimated that I used about 2 cups total of liquid with the dye, and that I would need 4 more cups of water to cover my fabrics so I mixed 4 cups of hot water with 6 teaspoons of the fixative.

When I was ready, I poured the fixative/water mixture over each of my fabrics. When this soaks into the fabric, the dyes stop reacting. 

I let these sit a couple hours to make sure the fixative mixture had soaked in-you can let it sit up to 24 hours if you want!

Then it was rinsing my fabrics (I throw them into the washing machine)and dry them.

I am so pleased with the results!

The fun thing about this last one is that I used a fabric that had been a commercially printed white on white design. The printing doesn't take the dye, which gives a lovely result!

So easy! With fantastic results!!
Give it a try!!

See you next time!

click here for the Procion Starter Kit