Last year I played with snow dyeing fabric which resulted in some beautiful cloth. But when the snow was gone, I substituted ice cubes – a technique called ice fabric dyeing. That project resulted in me writing an article for Quilting Arts.
After reading the new issue of Quilting Arts magazine where Carol Ludington showed her “iced parfait” technique, I just had to ice dye some more fabric. For information on ice dyeing, read my instructions here. Be sure to also read my post on precautions to take with these fabric reactive dyes.
I added each fabric with the dye and ice, stacking them in my dye bucket.
I had no idea how these would turn out. Before when I dyed them individually I knew I did have a LITTLE control of the outcome. But with stacking the fabric and dye, any sort of planning or any control was gone. So I had no idea what I would be fishing out of this bucket 24 hours later.
Here are my fabric pieces starting with the top layer (layer 1) and on down to the bottom of the bucket.
This is the top layer which was a piece of muslin.
The colors are almost muted. Had I added more dye it would have been darker, but I was concerned about the other layers since all of the dye from this piece would drip down to the next layer and so on. At first I wasn’t sure I liked this piece since I love the dark rich colors. But the more I look at it, the more I like it. It looks like a garden with tulips. Here is a closeup.
The next layer is a bit darker. This was a white cotton bandana.
And the closeup.
Now we are getting darker as the dyes continue to drip down the stack. The next two were white cotton napkins.
And the final layer is a weird piece of fabric I had in my stash. I’m not sure if it was 100% cotton and it was offwhite and textured.
And a closeup.
I wasn’t sure I liked the last piece at all but it has grown on me. It would make a great journal cover or I could see adding white paint and making a wallhanging. If you look closely you can see the texture of the fabric.
I also stuffed several doilies in the dye bucket.
I love my sunpainted fabric, but there is something about these fiber reactive dyes that just make me want to play with them more. They are more work, but I really love the results.
So cool!! I did a bit of fabric dyeing last week. Didn’t turn out as I had hoped. Oh well…I can always over-dye it.
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Halle, Yes, that’s what is great. If we don’t like it we can overdye it! Thanks for commenting.
Yes, you can overdye it, you can also stamp paint on it to change it too. You could rust it. You could discharge it.
Lynda these are gorgeous! Ice dyeing is on my list to do too. You should see my list…it will be July before I get to do any of it…I have indigo dyeing on my list, and potato and corn dextrin resist on my list, and ice dyeing! Maybe you and I could have a play day if you want to get in on some of it! I have the indigo kit and the dextrins.
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Kathy, Thanks. Yes, I’d be interested in any of those for a play date!! See you tomorrow.
I actually have dyed a lot of shirts before and it is also a part of my school works.. But this one looks really interesting.. Great job!
Lynda,
All of these pieces are beautiful. I love layer 1, 2 and 5 the most. I envy your talent! You’ll have to teach us groupies how to do it.
Carla (Mimzy), Thanks. It’s so easy!
These are beautiful! I’ve done single-layer snow dyeing, but now I’ve got to try ice and ice parfait. Thanks so much for sharing.