Carol Anne Grotrian                                                                                        back to Workshops

COLORFUL QUARTERS: FABRIC DYEING FOR QUILTERS 

 

If you’re a beginner or experienced, join us for a day of dyeing fat quarters using fiber reactive dyes, buckets and baggies. Learn methods of gradation from light to dark and color to color, starting with blue and ending up with almost 5 colorful yards of cotton. We’ll use familiar “kitchen” measurements and focus on repeatable results. Never run out of a fabric again!).

 

Bring to Class:

Rubber gloves (kitchen “above” wrist style)

Dust mask from hardware store

A 2-gallon bucket (clean, no smaller)

A 1-quart container (yogurt, deli--washed clean)

 

An old towel

A trash bag-to cover table

20 gallon sized closeable baggies--to transport damp fabric if needed

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Wear old clothes  Note: a fee of $30 covers cost of fabric and dyes.

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More Information:

 

We will be using four Fiber Reactive MX dyes--a blue, a red, a yellow and a black--to create a variety of hues and shades. These dyes are powders that are mixed into solution with water. The other ingredients are table salt, an industrial soap called synthropol and "activator," which is basically old fashioned washing soda. The process is considered non-toxic, though dust masks are recommended when mixing the dye to avoid breathing in the powder. Rubber gloves are also recommended and old clothes are advisable.

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This is a hands-on workshop, where participants will become adept at dyeing yardage, whether in buckets to create evenly colored solids or in low immersion baggies to create mottled colors. The dye recipes rely on familiar kitchen measurements and do not require special equipment or laboratory techniques such as weighing the fabric. 

 

If you have any questions, contact instructor at carolannegrotrian@gmail