Transfer Dye

I recently attended a workshop run by Cas Holmes, at the Ballarat Fibre Arts event.
The first thing we experimented with was transfer dyeing. I had done a very small amount while studying my Studio Textiles and Design course but had not done any for years.

The idea is that you paint your dye onto paper and then iron it onto your fabric. It works best with synthetic fabrics.

Today, two friends and I had a play with it again. We were trying to work out what papers work best and what fabrics work well.

I purchased my dyes from Kraft Kolour and they were delivered very promptly!

I'm not sure we have discovered a lot but we had a very pleasant day.

One thing that one of us discovered is that you can transfer the dye from paper to paper - much more her thing. She is more interested in paper art now, rather than textile art.

Different papers soak up the dyes differently and some seem to retain the dye more than others. Different fabrics take up the dyes differently. It seems that we need to do a lot more experimenting before we know much!

Experimenting with different resists and layers of fabric, to see if the dye would go through.  We had drop cloths to catch any dyes that soaked through. No many did, as you had to wait till the dye was dry before ironing it onto the fabric. But some of the thinner fabrics did let the colour go all the way through.

 The dyes looked much darker on the papers!

 It even worked on some felt that one of us brought along. 

 This too is felt. 

These two images show the dye painted onto some pianola roll paper and then ironed onto the fabric. As I have said, the colour comes out very differently on the fabric. It will take a lot more experience with the process to be able to accurately predict results.

One thing we did learn at the workshop is to keep the papers, they can be used in the mixed media piece that you might eventually make.