Beginner fabric dyers will delight in Frieda Anderson’s user-friendly guide to coloring your own cloth. If you’re new to dyeing, or simply want to perfect your practice, you’ll find all the necessary information within these pages. Anderson focuses on Procion MX dyes and comprehensibly takes the reader through all steps of the fabric dyeing process, from preparing the fixative to mixing the dyes and immersing the fabrics. She focuses on gradation dyeing in particular, demonstrating how just a few colors can be used to create a collection of fabrics in a range of harmonized hues, and discusses the technicalities of color families, tints, and complements.
Techniques for dyeing fabric flat and dye painting are also included. Anderson even outlines the basics of fusing and finishing your quilts, and includes five fusing projects to help you put your newly dyed fabrics to use. For a first-time dyer, this basic and straightforward guide has all you need to get started.
Getting Started
All about dyes & fabrics
Simple equipment
Workspace setup
What to wear
Preparing Your Dye & Fabric
Pretreating fabric
Mixing & Measuring
The Color Wheel
Dyeing the Basic Gradations
Understanding gradations
At a-glance dye chart
Dyeing a rainbow of colors
Dyeing More Gradations
Dyeing complementary colors
Color families & tints
Dyeing Fabric Flat
Making dye “platters”
Drip dyeing
Dye painting
Special effects
Washing & Drying Your Fabric
About detergents
Setting the dye
Finished fabric
Quick cleanup
Gallery
Flower quilts
Tree quilts
Artist & friends gallery
Fusing & Finishing Basics
Easy fabric fusing
Layering, quilting, & binding
A special quilt sleeve
Projects
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Irises
Daily Walk
Autumnal Trees
Amish Leaves
Resources
About the Author
I made my first quilt when I was in high school. I have always made things, and I love the process of creating. In college I majored in Art History and minored in ceramics, but I returned to fiber because it was more satisfying. I can't remember when I didn't sew. For years my focus was designing and making clothing. All that changed in 1992, however, when I was in fashion design and realized that all I wanted to do was make quilts. I have been designing and making original quilts ever since.
I find each step of quilt making, from the beginning to the end, a real challenge. It is hard to say what part I like best. I love the pure creativity involved in conceiving and designing a new quilt. I love to piece and I love to fuse. I have found that by fusing smaller pieces, I can work out design issues. Then I like to make a bigger, bolder statement and piece the same quilt in a large format. Most of my work is machine quilted and nature inspired. Everyday I walk in a little wood near my home with my dog George. Much of what I see there appears in my work.
I discovered hand dyeing fabric 16 years ago, and I now work almost exclusively with my own hand dyed cottons and silks. I love the dye process, and I particularly enjoy seeing the colors emerge from the wet fabric.