Dye Samples

Dye Shirt Samples. 

When starting the shirt I was very mindful that I would have to break it down after it was made. The fabric that was bought for the shirt was pure white and very bright. In the top left corner of the image above is the actual fabric as it came. It's a little hard to see on white paper, which gives you an idea of how bright it was. To get a head start on breaking down I decided to do something I decided to call a "dirty water dye". Ideally this meant a very very light dye that just took all the white out of the fabric, taking it from new to used. When I started doing samples I found that this was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. The samples start at Sample 1 in the first row next to the original fabric and continue in the second row starting with Sample 5. Here is a break-down for each sample of what I used:

Done in a saucepan on a burner started with 40fl oz of water and some salt. Mixed dyes to one jar of water with 1 plastic teaspoon of Havana Brown and Elephant Grey dye.

Sample 1: Two plastic spoons of Havana Brown for 5 minutes
Sample 2: Added to sample 1 two plastic spoons of Elephant Grey for 3 minutes
Sample 3: Same mixture but for 2 minutes
Emptied saucepan to start again. Added 25fl oz of water to sauce pan and some salt.
Sample 4: Added 2 plastic spoons of Elephant Grey for three minutes
Sample 5: 1/2 plastic spoon of Havana Brown and 1 plastic spoon of Elephant Grey for 6 minutes
Emptied saucepan to start again. Added 25fl oz of water to sauce pan and some salt.
Sample 6: Added 4 plastic spoons of Elephant Grey for 5 minutes
To add to my range I mixed 1/2 plastic spoon of Coffee dye in a jar of water
Sample 7: Added to mixture in sample 6, 1 plastic spoon Coffee and 1 plastic spoon Elephant Grey for 7 minutes
Sample 8: Added to mixture 1 1/2 plastic spoons of Elephant Grey and 1 plastic spoon of Coffee for 9 minutes
Sample 9: Added 1 1/2 plastic spoons of Elephant Grey for 11 minutes.

Evaluation: I felt that by thinking ahead and beginning the breaking down process now I would be a step ahead. However, I don't think these samples are very successful in what I was trying to create. I think that the closest samples are 4 and 6, however I still think these two are not exactly what I was looking to create. And dyeing the mulitple meters I have of the white fabric this light could prove difficult and produce patchy results. When I showed my samples to my tutor she agreed. She also pointed out that working in the dye room is not always the cleanest and even if I was extremely careful other dye could get on the fabric. So instead of trying to dye it I am washing it to make it soft and tone it down a little. I think this will be a good start and I will just face the breaking down when I get to it. If I had another opportunity to try my "dirty water dye" idea I might try and do a cold water dye instead of a hot because I think it might be easier to regulate the colour.