July Goals Check-in

I’ve been working hard on the building Dyeing 104: Multicolor Silk! Once I’ve got the first 4 sessions up I’l launch, but the first four sessions are doozies! So much to explain, so many videos to tape, so many pictures to edit, so much explaning to type! And then there’s the video editting, the picture processing, all the website stuff… However, this isn’t the first time I’ve made an online class, so I know that the fun part is approaching: the time I get to share all this with my students! I’ve finally got enough free time and head space most days that I’m making great strides in this area!

July Goals

Get ready to LAUNCH Dyeing 104 July 31 40%
Dye skirt, shirts and scarves for wedding July 28 100%
Pay CA State Sales Tax!!! July 31 0%
Teach FMQ at Redlands Sewing Center July 21 66%
Modern Patchwork Submission July 24 0%
Finish Liam’s quilt, make new shorter QAYG video August 20 0%
calendar email to students August 1 0%
Finish the next mystery project back burner 50%
Mod House Quilt back burner 5%

I’ve taught 2 of my 3 FMQ classes this month and they are going great! Everyone is having fun and learning a lot! I also can’t forget to pay CA State sales tax by the end of the month, yikes! But beyond that, you know what I’ll be doing:

Color-Wheel-Batch-2
Dyeing a Silk Color Wheel!!!

6 Responses

  1. Let us know the silk fabric requirements so we will be ready when you launch the new class

  2. Hi Candy,
    I need your advice. From your wealth of experience, is there a point at which a fabric is just too good a quality!
    I’m about to do some dyeing, using a fabric I got from a local fabric warehouse. It was nearly 3 yards wide, so obviously loomed for bedsheets. It’s 100% cotton, but my concern is that it’s got the closest weave I’ve ever dealt with – it must me a “millionty threads to the inch”!!

    Can you advise me – will I have trouble getting the dye to penetrate, do you think? To prepare it, I have given it two long very hot washes with Synthrapol, but it still feels starchy and crackles! It ironed beautifully, if that’s an indication of anything… ?

    What do you think?

    1. Hi Virginia!

      There’s no such thing as fabric that is too good a quality to dye…but you are right to worry about getting out any finishing products they put on the fabric after it being woven…if it feels starchy and crackles that sounds like there’s something still in there. Here’s what I would do:

      1) Snip off a bit of the fabric now, and dye it along with some proven PFD fabric and see if the color is the same. If it is, you’re done!

      2) If it dyes lighter, I’d do a more intense scouring of the fabric: boiling in half a teaspoon (2 gm) of soda ash and half a teaspoon (2.5 ml) of Synthrapol for each pound of fabric. Here’s a link that explains this in greater detail http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyeblog/C1691090068/E20111112132540/index.html

      3) Snip off a bit more and repeat step 1. Hopefully the scouring did the trick. If it doesn’t dye well after this, I’d give up! 🙁

      I’d love to hear and see what happens, let me know!