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Member since 12/5/06
Posts: 11
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Posted on: 12/31/06 4:19 PM ET
OK, I posted a while back about not getting the desired results with my dyeing. I wanted red cotton, I got pink. Now I've got my new dyes from Dharma. Do I need to do anything special with the fabric before redyeing it? I also have some peach cotton that I would like to dye dark brown. Can I just treat the peach as white?
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Unassisted Home-birthing, Attachment Parenting, Tandem Breastfeeding Mama of Lyzander (21/1/05) and Phoenix (3/7/06)
  
Member since 8/24/02
Posts: 13492
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Posted on: 12/31/06 10:05 PM ET
In reply to Heatherlee
Dharma is said to be very good at handlng specific questions like this from their customers. Have you tried calling them?
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Elona
  
Member since 12/28/04
Posts: 13915
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Posted on: 12/31/06 10:29 PM ET
In reply to Heatherlee
Red is one of those intense colors that need more dye and more time in the dye bath. The second question is maybe.
You should always wash fabric before dyeing to remove any finishing or sizing in the fabric.
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www.nancyksews.blogspot.com
  
Member since 1/17/02
Posts: 1493
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Posted on: 1/1/07 6:22 PM ET
Heather, are you using the procion dyes? Dharma should have the instructions right on their Web site. Not only do you need to pre-wash your fabric to remove any impurities, it's best to use synthrapol and also hot water assuming you're dying cotton.



  
Member since 9/18/02
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Posted on: 1/2/07 6:21 PM ET
You can probably just overdye the fabric if the pink shade you got is the same value as the red you want (not yellower or bluer). As for the peach--if you're going to overdye it, understand that the brown you choose may turn a bit redder once you dye on top of the peach.

In my experience, the color you see in the catalog is generally *not* the color you get after dyeing, so be prepared to be flexible. It will be similar, but not an exact match. For ex, when I used a color Dharma calls amethyst, it came out significantly redder than the color in the catalog.

Be sure that the fabric is damp when you put it in the dye bath, or you might get streaking.
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Debbie
Viking Sapphire 930, Babylock Evolution
  
Member since 10/1/04
Posts: 259
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Posted on: 1/2/07 7:19 PM ET
In reply to Debbie Lancaster
I so agree. It's a mistake to rely too much on the color "swatch" in the catalog. And I dye silk with procion dyes, so of course that's even farther off.

I just CRINGE when somebody says, "could you dye this to match..."!
  
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