Flat Dyeing

In the work I do, I like to use solid color assembled into shapes and patterns. From start to finish I want to have as much to do with the art as I can. I believe it has to come from my hand to be authentic. So I dye my own fabric. In the past, I've used buckets and baggies, yet many times I had results that appeared mottled despite agitating the heck out of it and/or using my hand-dandy wonder washer. I would often leave a day of dyeing physically exhausted and mentally disappointed.

What I'm really after is a nice even coverage of color with minor variations so as to give hint that this fabric is not commercially purchased. I was able to achieve that this week! Here is a piece of red fabric that came out even, smooth and vibrant. The color is intense and it only took one try!

How did I do it? I started by analyzing every aspect of my dyeing process thinking about the chemical reaction that is involved and how well/poorly my method matched up. I realized my problem rested in the fact that I did not give as much attention to the curing process as I should, and by bunching up my fabric in buckets or baggies, I was actually making it impossible to achieve the smooth results I wanted. Some of you have asked, so here is my current method of dyeing fabric.

Start with a (hot) sunny day:

In my back yard, I have a folding table set up that I've topped with an old cutting mat I had stored away:

My fabric is soaked in a soda ask solution and spun out in my washing machine:

From the hardware store, I purchased plastic drip cloths used by painters and cut them up into pieces just larger than a one-yard piece of fabric. I was sure to get the heaviest weight plastic I could find. I wanted the weight and durability.

After laying the fabric on the table:

I pour my mixed dye solution directly on it. 400 to 600 ml works fine:

I then cover it with a sheet of plastic and smooth out the bubbles:

I use small clamps to hold the plastic down in trade-wind weather:

More layers are put down, one by one:

As long as my plastic sheets have no holes in them, I don't worry about layering different colors on top of each other. My table is also set at a slight angle so any excess dye travels downhill. This sits in the sun for a day:

After the fabric is done and thrown in the washer, the plastic is rinsed and hung on a clothesline to dry.

As you can see the results are smooth, even, uniform and intense. Dyeing this way means less dye is lost down the drain during the rinse out. I've had to cut back on the amount of dye powder I use.

Here on the left is a recent batch of a black to grey gradation. Notice how even the color appears and how heavily weighted towards black it is. In the future, I'll know to dilute the mixture more so subtle grays can be achieved. On the right is last year's results from a batch I did using buckets. Notice the mottling and unevenness of color. I'm much happier now that I've discovered this. It makes me feel good that I've figured this out.