Dying Aida

[natalielowen]

Has anyone ever tried dying aida cloth?

The reason I ask is I would like to do the Epic Mario pattern but would like to do it on a nice, sky blue cloth. I can only easily get big pieces of white here but was thinking I could dye it using regular fabric dye.

Has anyone done this before? Any advice? I was thinking I'd try some small swatches to get the timing right but I want to know before I try if this will work out.

[spinuntilyoufall]

I've been interested in this as well - also, how well does the dye hold up - typically I frame my projects, so I'm not TOO worried about having to ever wash them, but if a project takes a while it may need to be washed before framing - is there a chance that you would lose some of the color?

[RockstarGirl]

I've been thinking about this too - I want to do the SMB3 World 1 map, but the more I think about it, the more I want to cheat and use cloth the color of the majority of the background - saves a TON of stitches. But I don't know if I can find exactly the right shade, so I was thinking about dying a piece of white.

Honestly, I don't see why it wouldn't work - most fabric dyes are made to work best on cotton, and aida (at least what I have) is 100% cotton. If you follow the instructions on the fabric dye, it should be permanent and not lose any color if you wash your project when done. In theory, at least.

[blackmageheart]

Aida is made of cotton so any dye that is intended for use on cotton will be fine. Depending on the dye used, there may be some colour loss on washing so when choosing a dye, see if it's colourfast. I think most modern dyes are, though.
I would say try it out, definitely swatches first, but it should be fine

Hope that helps.

[Eliste]

Aida dyes pretty well.

I would suggest not using the "throw it in the washer with the dye" type of dying for it though. The "get it wet then soak it in the dye" works much better and you can control the colour a lot better imo.

[natalielowen]

I've been thinking about this too - I want to do the SMB3 World 1 map, but the more I think about it, the more I want to cheat and use cloth the color of the majority of the background - saves a TON of stitches. But I don't know if I can find exactly the right shade, so I was thinking about dying a piece of white.

This too!

Thanks for all of the advice/encouragement. I'll let you know how it turns out and post pics (though it may be a while, I just started another big project).

[RAWRmonster]

Do you think black dye would hold and stay dark? I'm having a hard time finding black aida in higher counts.

[blackmageheart]

Should do, Rawr.

[Eliste]

Do you think black dye would hold and stay dark? I'm having a hard time finding black aida in higher counts.

As long as the Aida you dye is 100% cotton you shouldn't have anything to worry about. I'd suggest soaking it for longer than you normally would, just to be sure.

[gamerwolff]

Something else you can do is not only to soak the fabric in the dye, but to put it on the stove. But when directions say to soak in really hot water I usually boil my water and then keep it on low when the fabric is in the water. Yes this is done in a pot on the stove. I will note however that you shouldn't use metal spoons as they may damage the fabric go buy a wooden one that has a long handle. Soak and stir fabric contantly for about an hour and rinse well. See notes below for how to set dye.

Another idea is this: experiment with a little bit of dye on white cloth by dabbing it onto the fabric by using papertowel....you could do this for the mario sky and that would really make you're piece stand out. Rule of thumb when doing this have a neat work area with like newspaper on the floor with wax paper or something thats water repellent underneath....let's just say I ruined a section of carpet by NOT doing this. Wet your cloth so its damp. Lay flat. Mix 1 teaspoon of powder dye and salt to 1 cup of very hot water. I mix my dyes in stainless steel bowls(dye can't stain them....any other metal is debatable!). Mix dye. then crumple up some damp paper towel and then dab fabric until you get the look you are going for. You can do this with one color.....many colors.....you can mix the dyes themselves to make new colors. Go nuts this is what i do to make some of my peices stand out.

To set the dye to permanent after you're done, take piece and run under water to remove excess dye...no rubbing no scrubbing just let the water run through for like 2 minutes just like you would do for noodles after they've cooked....(in fact i line my stainless steel drainer with the fabric and just pan it around under the water). Place on top of paper towels and then use another layer on top to blot out excess water.Get as much out as possible without getting it completely dry.then move to ironing board with fresh papertowels underneath and on top once again, set your iron to cotton setting and press the fabric dry. This is also the same process for full coverage dying when you want to secure the dye in those projects