Dyes & Dyeing

We're thrilled to have been mentioned in an article by Rachael Dove in The Evening Standard recently. "How to dye your old clothes with Alice Temperley" shares how to bring new life to discarded garments - using Fibrecrafts Natural Dyes! Award winning British designer Alice Temperley MBE, explains how she uses Madder, Cochineal and Logwood to dye s

In Batik, melted wax is applied to fabric to act as a resist to dye or paint. The wax is applied using a carved wooden block or stamp, or free hand with a tjanting or brush. When the wax has hardened, the fabric is either submerged in a dye bath or painted with the dye. The waxed areas will remain undyed. When the fabric has dried, more wax pattern

Customer Yvonne Appleby has very kindly sent us some photographs of her Eco Prints on watercolour paper. Ash Leaves "My first attempt at eco printing was, to my great satisfaction and no small surprise, a success. The leaves used were Sweet Chestnut, Ash, Wych Elm, Ivy, Cotoneaster, Yarrow, Bracken and Tansy." Yvonne used the following method for h

George Weil has sold litres and litres of H Dupont Classique Silk Dyes to customers during the last two decades. These liquid dyes are used with protein fibres such as silk, wool, feathers, mohair and cashmere, and are more popularly used by silk painters. A Beginner's Silk Painting using H Dupont Classique Our colleague Cara created this silk pain

The silk painters' favourite, H Dupont Classique dyes, provide bright and clear colour results on silk fabric. Although the iron fix silk paints offer a fair alternative, they do leave the fabric a little stiffer than a dye. This stiffness effects the drape of the fabric while dyes retain the fluidity. Our image shows silk fabric painted with H Dup

If you are curious about indigo dyeing this blog post may encourage you to have a go! Here we take you through the stages of preparing the indigo dye vat and dyeing your first items with this magical, ancient dye. Dip you fabric, fibre or yarn, lift it into the air and watch as the luminous green turns to the stunning colour of indigo. Materials &a

We thought you would like to see the results of our sun printing using Jacquard Dye-na-flow. Jacquard Dye-na-flow are fluid paints for use on natural and synthetic fabrics. The paint can also be used to stain wood, paint on paper, canvas, leather, suede, clay and more. Designs painted on fabric with Dye-na-flow are made washfast by heat fixing

Have you ever been disappointed by the results of the washing machine dyes you find at the supermarket? The zip or the stitching didn't take the dye colour? This is why it is important to know the fibre content and which dyes to use to get an even colour which stays washfast. Here we include a listing of the dyes available from this website, and th

It's never too late to change direction in life and customer Jo Aylwin is living proof! Before training as a solictor, Jo had discovered weaving as a student in Norway in 1975. Although in love with the craft, she did not encounter weaving again for another 30 years. The workshop she attended at UCA Farnham in 2005 rekindled her interest and now sh

Here's another colourful craft project for children from Cara Barrell. These personalised towels were created using a waterproof adhesive tape as a resist and Procion MX fibre reactive dyes. Procion MX dyes are formulated specifically for dyeing natural plant fibres such as cotton and linen. They are permanently fixed to the fabric when combined wi

Dye-Lishus Cotton Sliver is an undyed, PFD (prepared for dyeing) cotton fibre that has been treated to accept dye colour directly using any dye stuff. The cellulose structure is changed so that it behaves as if scoured and mordanted in preparation for dyeing before it goes to the mill; there is no chemical added to the fibre. There is no need to us

Here we include tips on how to dye polyester clothing with Fibrecrafts Disperse Dyes and Jacquard iDye Poly Dyes. Things to Concider when Dyeing Polyester Clothes Firstly you need to be absolutely certain about the type of fabric and select a dye which will work on it. Polyester has to be dyed using Disperse dyes in boiling water. These dyes are

Understanding a little about colour theory can help you to decide which colours to choose for art or craft projects. The success of a project, whether it be woven cloth or a watercolour painting, can be determined by choosing the best colour relationships. Primary Colours The primary colours red, yellow and blue are the only colours that cannot be

You may have seen our post Tie-dyed Onesies using Jacquard Procion MX dyes in which professional nannies Cara and Kim did some fun tie-dyeing with the children they look after. This post shows what the children made with the left over dyes! Tie-dye Pillowcase Project The white pillowcase were first prepared for dyeing and then soaked in a solution

A visit to the Weald & Downland Living Museum takes us on a journey through 950 years of English rural history. There are 50 historical buildings which were carefully rebuilt within the 40 acre site, demonstrations and exhibits, plus an extensive artefact collection housed in the award-winning Downland Gridshell Building. Throughout the year, t

Wild Rose Escapes run craft, wild cookery and relaxation holidays and courses in the heart of the Highlands of Scotland. Their courses include natural dyeing and felt making. We invited owner Rosie to tell us a little more about their craft holidays. "I have been running craft courses in the Highlands of Scotland for over 7 years now and since the

Professional Nannies Cara and Kim arranged this fun tie-dyeing Summer Holiday activity to entertain the children they look after. These cotton onesies were dyed by the children themselves. Tie-dyeing is a resist dyeing method. The dye is prevented from reaching the areas of fabric which are tightly bound with either elastic bands or string, or by t

These exciting soluble indigo natural dyes are derived from fermented natural indigo and alkanet. The Turquoise Blue natural dye gives a good blue and at lower concentrations provides a fine teal green. The Forest Green, which also contains fermented pomegranate, produces a deep green. Just 10g will dye 100g of materials to the full colour achieva

Need something fun to do in the sun? Make the most of the bright sunshine to create detailed prints without a camera! Jacquard Solar Fast dyes are used to create photograms, continuous tone photographs, shadow prints, and ombrès on fabric and paper. They develop their colour and become permanent upon exposure to UV light, most easily sourced from

Double dyeing devore fabric involves using two distinct and different colours in one dye bath, and a fabric made from two different fibre types which take up the two dyes independently. The image below shows how the silk net on the devore cushion cover has taken the silk/wool colour (H Dupont Classique dyes) while the pile has taken the viscose/cot