Dye Tutorials

All of the information on this page was assembled in collaboration with the Facebook group Dyed Baby Carriers. If you have more questions regarding dyeing your baby carrier, join their group for assistance!

General Reference Websites

Paula Burch: All About Hand Dyeing

• Lots of info about different dye techniques
• Includes non-babywearing-specific techniques, so not all may be safe
• Beware of methods using unsafe dyes or bleach

Dharma Trading Co

• Lots of different techniques explained
• Sells extremely high quality and safe dye

Vat Dye/Tub Dye/Immersion Dye

A vat dye is a simple method that results in solid coverage with one color.

• Dharma Trading Co Tub Dyeing Basics
• Paula Burch - Dyeing in a washing machine

Acid Dyeing is a method of vat dyeing necessary when dyeing animal fiber, like silk or wool. Doing a regular dye with soda ash on silk or wool is very harsh and may ruin the texture.

• Dharma Trading Co Basic Stovetop Dyeing with Acid Dyes
• Paula Burch How to Dye Silk

Gradient Dye/Ombre

A grad dye is a way to fade one or more colors across the length or width of a wrap.

• Peaceful & Creative Living Grad Dye Wrap
• It's Not Spaghetti Single Color Grad
• It's Not Spaghetti Rainbow Grad
• Peaceful & Creative Living Sunset/Rainbow Grad
• Siphon Method Grad Dye
• Dharma Trading Co - Ombre
• New Earth Designs - "Let's Talk Grad Dyes"

Low Water Immersion

This method results in a splotchy, uneven almost marbled color pattern.

• Dharma Trading Co - Crystal Wash Technique
• Paula Burch - Low Water Immersion Dyeing

Ice Dye

Similar to low water immersion, ice dying allows for a splotchy, uneven color pattern, but gives you more control over color placement. This technique is popularly used with jewel tones combined with black in order to achieve a "galaxy" look.

• Dharma Trading Co - Ice/Snow Dyeing
• Happy Wrappings - Ice Dyed SSC
• Video on how to scrunch fabric for an ice dye (visible only to Dyed Baby Carrier group members)
• Text Tutorial - Ice Dye (visible only to Dyed Baby Carrier group members)

Resist Dyeing

Resist dyeing uses wax, glue, or string to create a "resist," allowing certain areas of the fabric to remain untouched by dye.

Batik

• Dharma Trading Co - Batik Basics
• Paula Burch - How to Batik

Glue Resist

• A Bushel n a Peck - Glue Resist Dyeing

Shibori

• Art Threads Shibori
• Kaizen Journey - Itajime Shibori Process
• RIT Shibori Pole-wrapping Technique (side note: RIT dyes are not recommended for baby carriers)
• File Under Fiber - Shibori Circles
• HonestlyWTF - DIY Shibori
• Design Sponge - Shibori Designes 4 Ways
• Silk Shibori Blog (several shibori posts)
• Brenda Gael Smith blog (several shibori posts)

Tie Dye

• Dharma Trading Co Tie Dye Basics
• Paula Burch How to Tie Dye
• Dharma Trading Co - Basic Spiral Tie Dye
• 4 Spiral Tie Dye Techniques (Youtube video)
• Dharma Trading Co - Peace Sign Tie Dye
• Peace Sign (Youtube video)
• Heart (Youtube video)
• Yin Yang (Youtube video)
• Mandala (Youtube video)
• Star or Mandala (Youtube video)
• Sky Fold (Youtube video)
• Lotus (Facebook album)
• 5-Pointed Star (Youtube video)
• DNA Pattern (Facebook album)
• "Radio Wave" tie dye pattern (Youtube video)
• Accordion Fold tie dye (Youtube video)
• Fish Scales (Youtube video)

Marble Dyeing

Using shaving cream to "swirl" the dye gives a marbled texture.

• Dharma Trading Co Shaving Cream Dyeing
• Marble Rainbow Shaving Cream Dye (visible to Dyed Baby Carrier group members only)

Painting with Thickened Dye

Painting with thickened fiber reactive dye will give you the control of paint without the stiff texture often associated with it. This is great for places where you want a design or just need to "spot-dye" - for example, painting dye onto the straps of a structured carrier to counteract fading without harming the design on the body panel.

• Dharma Trading Co - Painting or Printing with Fiber Reactive Dye
• How to Use Thickened Dye (visible to Dyed Baby Carrier group members only)
• New Earth Designs - Painting Fabric with Thickend Dye

-- Alyssa Leonard - 2017-02-17