Dyeing Fabric at Home – Mini Series

Get Ready for Painting & Dyeing Fabric at Home! Over the next few weeks we will explore different methods and techniques to help you transform fabric at home into a one of a kind masterpiece. Let’s talk about fabric dyeing.

 

Let’s see if any of these fabric stash scenarios sound familiar to you:

• You got a REALLY great deal on a piece of fabric – maybe you found it at a yard sale, or a thrift store, or the clearance shelf at the fabric store. It was such a good deal that you couldn’t pass it up, even though you’re not really a fan of the fabric color. So now it just sits in your stash, probably never to be used.

• Someone gave you some fabric as a gift, or because they were doing some spring cleaning. Free fabric? Score! Except, again, it’s not really your style so you don’t know what to do with it.

• You bought WAY too much fabric for a large project. Now that project is finished and you have a ton of fabric left over, but you’re a little sick of it after sewing with it for the main project and you don’t really want to make something else with exactly the same fabric all over again.

If you saw yourself (and your stash) in any of those scenarios, never fear! It’s time to bring that fabric out of hiding and give it a makeover! Our easy tips for dyeing fabric and painting at home will open up the possibilities for working with fabrics that you just didn’t love before. We’re going to give you a series of tips over the next few weeks, but before we get started, it’s time to gather up the supplies you’ll need to dye your own fabric at home. Let’s get to work!

Examples of Dyeing Fabric

 

Gather Your Materials – In order to paint or dye fabric, you’ll need the following items:

• Dyes or Paints* (For general cotton fabrics, you can purchase fabric paint in bottles, tubes or pen/marker forms; Rit dye works well on a variety of fabric, and powdered dyes like Jacquard will work on wool and silk.)

• Paint brushes (sponge brushes work best)

• Stamps and decorative items (regular stamps and stencils can create prints on your fabric – you can also use natural items like feathers or leaves)

• Rubber bands or string (heavy, cotton string or yarn)

• Rubber gloves*

• Apron or old clothing (or both!)*

• Garbage bags*

• Large buckets

• Stock pot (one that is NOT going to be used for food)

• Large wooden or plastic stirring spoon (again, not for food) or paint stirring sticks

• Vinegar

Note: Items marked with a * will be required for every type of fabric painting and dyeing. The other items on this list may only apply to one or two paint or dye methods.

We hope you’ll enjoy this series on painting and dyeing fabric at home! As you practice your own dyeing experiments, we’d love to see them! Share photos in our Sewing Loft Flickr Pool.

Be sure to tune in next week for your first lesson on how to dye fabric at home.

Fabric Dyeing Mini Series Round Up-

• Fabric Dyeing Basics
• Fabric Painting
• Tie Dye Fabric
• Dip Dyeing Fabric
• Kettle Dyeing Fabric

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