my first go at tie dying a few months ago went quite well. i got bought the jacquard tie dye kit for christmas & i did a whole bunch of t-shirts, a couple of vests & a pair of dungarees. i did the bottle application dying & the colours came out really vivid & looked ace. i bought a new winter quilt this weekend & after searching all over for a plain white cover set i decided to have another go at tie dying. i bought dylon this time as i couldnt find a stockest of the jacquard anywhere & i didnt know what the actual dye was called. i followed all instructions carefully on the dylon using the dip dying method. altho its dyed its no where near as vivid as the kit i got bought. i'm guessing after reading mumminmama's sticky post of dyes that the dylon is an acid dye not an alcoloid dye. now i know what they actual name of the dye is (procion MX) i've managed to find a stockist here in my home city in england i want to have another go at tie dying bedding. i want to know which would be the best way, do i try dip dying again as its such a large piece or do i do application dying? if i do application dying, will the dye soak through all the cloth?
since Procion is made by ICI, I can't see why you would not find it in the UK. I personally despise immersion/ vat dyeing. It's messy and a waste of dye when trying for tie dye effects. Direct application will give you far more control, especially in the bleed zones. How it penetrates depends on your folding/tying and the thickness of the cloth as well as HOW you apply it.
i have now found the dye here but all i knew it as was jacquard tie dye & that kept sending me to an american site. now i know the actual name of the dye (procion) i did a search & found stockests in my area. the jacquard tie dye kit we have here only has 3 bottles of dye & is very expensive. there wouldnt be anywhere neer enough to do bedding. but now i know the proper name for the dye & not the kit name i've found it at a fraction of the cost of the kit. yeah i didnt really take to the dip dying, because i was doing bedding & the cloth was so large i had to use a large plastic box filled with water & dye. it didnt work out how i wanted it & much prefured the squeesy bottle application that i did the first time round. tho i think dip dying may work better for the circle pattern as it didnt turn out quite how i wanted it last time i tryed that with squeesy bottles. what other methods of application could you use? also, are the dyes ok to use on clothes for baby. my sister has just had a little boy & i thought it would be nice to tie dye a couple of all in one suits for him.
yes, they are safe on baby clothes. We always use an extra rinse after the synthropol (it holds dye particles in suspension for a "pro" wash after curing) washing. I made a LOT of socks and blankies. other ways to apply include sponges, and different sizes of squirters. I've seen the tiny gutta bottles that henna artists use repurposed for dye. I use syringes.
