My friend Grace Howes has hosted a dye party at her house every summer for the past few years. She does a lot of dyeing, and is great at guiding newbies through the process. We work in her garage, which was pretty steamy today (we got a huge thunderstorm overnight and there was a lot of moisture in the air). She has a utility sink and three big tables she sets up where the cars usually are.
When you work with Procion dyes, you have to don a dust mask and safety goggles while you mix up the dye solution. I hate that part. But with a lot of people, you can share the task and it goes much faster.
Here’s Alisan pouring some soda ash solution on a piece of fabric:
These are Grace’s. She added some dye to one end of the fabric and put it in a bucket (on hte left side) and then put some darker dye in the other bucket (on the right) and let it seep up into the other color:
Not sure who was working on this piece, but it sure looks pretty in that blue bucket:
Trish loved those hot, steamy rubber gloves!
I was all about the blue-purple today. Here are my containers steeping in the sun:
This is my piece of cotton/linen drying on Grace’s yard:
I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Here’s a closeup of that same fabric:
Grace is so wonderful to host this party. I had to duck out a bit early to pick up one of my kids at a day camp, and didn’t do much in the way of clean up this time. (I owe you, Grace!) Here she is man-handling a table into storage:
Posts
Oh, I love the idea of a dye party. Does Grace supply the dye or does everyone chip in for supplies? I have the space to invite my friends but I'm not sure I have the funds to purchase all the dye.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! It's so much work to set up to dye sometimes and is always more fun with a friend.
ReplyDeleteGrace has the dye powders and she buys a bolt of PDF fabric and cuts it in 1/2 yard pieces. She figures out the cost of the basic supplies and it is split between everyone who comes. We all bring the other equipment (containers, measuring spoons, drying racks, extra containers for water/soda ash, etc.) and additional fabric.
ReplyDeleteI hate I missed all the fun today. I was where I was needed and where I needed to be. Lauren came through ok, but is looking at 5 - 7 days in the hospital.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like it was a fun day for everyone! :D
ReplyDeleteOohh.. I would love to learn to dye and this would be such a great idea, if I had the space. Maybe one of my friends will read your post and decide to host such a party :-)!
ReplyDeleteThat looks like so much fun. I hate to get out all the supplies and make such a mess just for myself, but with friends around to share I'd definitely love dye days. Kudos to Grace for organizing it.
ReplyDelete