Fabric Dye Supplies and Techniques

[Twi'lek Pam]

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If you need to change the color of a natural blend fabric, I highly recommend the Fiber Reactive Procion dyes sold by Dharma Trading Company. The colors are very high quality, they do not bleed or fade after you've washed out the excess dye, you can dye the fabric in warm (not boiling) water, it is very easy to custom mix colors, and the prices are very reasonable. These dyes do not work on synthetic fabrics, but then... few things do!

 

 

http://www.dharmatrading.com/

 

 

Tips:

 

 

- Note that I did not recommend RIT dye. The color is never a high quality, I always manage to burn myself when dyeing fabric with it, the color fades with each washing, and the colors can run if you leave it wet for a while. At Celebration 3 I was stuck in the rain one morning, and my RIT dyed Jedi robe bled brown dye all over my cream colored tabbards underneath.

 

 

- If you request a Dharma catalog, you will find a chart with all of the available Procion colors on the inside of the front cover. The chart colors are more accurate than the colors you see on your computer monitor when you go to their website.

 

 

- If you click on the "How To Info" tab in their website menu, you will find a great deal of helpful information on using the fabric dyes they sell. Much of this information will also be in the catalog. Step by step intructions are given for tub or washer dyeing a batch of fabric to get an even color.

 

 

- Dharma also sells a wide variety of fabrics that are selected specifically for their ability to take dye well. They have fabric by the yard or bolt, as well as pre-made clothing blanks that are ready to be dyed.

 

 

- If you need to paint spots or designs onto your fabric, you can use the Procion dye for this as well. Dharma sells thickeners which can be mixed into the dye to make them thick enough to apply with a paintbrush. Then, you paint on a fixer over the top, let it sit for a while, and wash out the extra dye. While I have found that this techniqe produces some terrific results, it does also leave some room for error... and you will most likely find some spots where you didn't paint on enough dye, or enough fixer... which will let the colors vary in brightness/darkness.

 

 

- If you want an easier solution for painting designs onto your fabric, there are a number of high quality fabric paints that are applied with a brush or stamp and then are set with the heat from an iron or the dryer.

 

 

- Fabric always looks MUCH darker while it is wet. When you dye a batch of fabric, you will need to leave it in the dye bath long enough to get a deep color... because once you've washed and dried it, the color will be considerably lighter.

 

 

 

Some words of caution:

 

 

- Any dye with red mixed into it may not dissolve well and will need extra care when mixing. Follow the instructions given on the website and/or the catalog for dissolving the dye, and really take your time. Reds, oranges, purples, and many brown toned dyes have red in them, and any undissolved red dye can leave permanent little spots on your fabric known as "freckles" if you are not thorough when you dissolve the powdered dye into your water.

 

 

- If you are planning to dye raw silk, test dye a swatch before you dye your whole piece of fabric. Raw silk is notorious for not taking colors as you would expect it to, and you may end up with an unexpected color. A common example is brown. Raw silk tends to soak up red dye more than any other color, so a brown dye can turn the silk pink. This can be countered by mixing a blue-gray dye into the brown to tone down the reds.

 

 

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[Guest Sakara]

Sadly that company wont sell internationally unless you buy $100 minimum. Real shame as theres some great shades that they do!!

 

Ive found Dylon machine dyes work very well and can be mixed to make new colours.

 

for european dyes aswell i found these acid dyes are great.

http://www.rainbowsilks.co.uk/SubCategory.cfm?SubCatId=107

 

and last well.

[Twi'lek Pam]

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When I first started costuming, I used to spend hours and hours trolling through fabric stores and websites looking for the perfect fabric for whatever I was making. It never failed, though... I'd find the perfect fabric, but they didn't have it in the right color. Or, I'd find the perfect color... but it would only come in a type of fabric that was completely wrong for what I was making. These days, I prefer to get white fabric and dye it to the color that I want. (The exception is spandex and pleather... can't really dye those very well!)

 

It's often difficult to tell what a dye color is going to look like on fabric, so it's a good idea to test them before you dunk five yards of your costume material into a tub of dye. For this, I keep a stack of 2 or 3 inch fabric squares in my dye supplies tub. Each time I get a new color of dye, I label a piece of fabric with the color name in Sharpie, and then mix up a very small amount of dye and soak the fabric. After years of dying fabric, I now have a "library" of color swatches to use for reference.

 

 

 

 

 

Each type of fabric takes dye differently, so it's always a good idea to test a swatch of your actual costume fabric before dying the whole piece of fabric. Better to be safe than sorry! I prefer to work with a cotton/lycra blend when I need a stretch fabric, or a linen/rayon blend for a more textured look. Both take dye very well, but I always have to keep in mind that the cotton starts out pure white, while the linen has a soft tint that has to be taken into account.

 

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Using test swatches also lets you mix custom colors and see exactly what the fabric will look like. (Remember, they will look lighter when they dry!) Use smaller pieces, and record the mix of dyes as you work so that when you're finished you'll be able to recreate it on a larger scale for the full piece of material. Sometimes I write the mix right on each piece of fabric with a Sharpie, while other times I record it on paper. Writing on the fabric is better, because you'll never forget which swatch is which afterwards! If you write the mix on the fabric, write it on a dry swatch before dipping the fabric. A Sharpie cannot write on wet cloth without the ink spreading.

 

Here are the test swatches I used while mixing colors to make a Xiaan Amersu costume:

 

 

Once I had selected the most accurate swatches, I dyed the rest of the fabric, and I was ready to sew!

 

 

 

 

Pam