Trial and Error: Dyeing

I do not believe there is one perfect way to achieve nirvana. Everyone has a different path! What I am trying to explain here is that there might be many ways to do a particular thing. And below is my way of dyeing a fabric! :)

what u need: fabric dye, non iodized salt, hot water, stove, wooden stick or spatula, a large aluminium vessel, pre-washed fabric that you have to dye. (I have tried only with cotton so far.)

The dye I bought from Devi Stores came in powdered form and 20 gms of powder costs 20 rupees. This quantity is enough to dye about a meter or so of the cloth.

So you take about half a bucket of boiling water and dissolve the dye and some salt in it. No wet the pre-washed fabric in water and wring out the water. This helps the dye to penetrate the fiber better I guess. So you immerse the fabric into it. you need to keep stirring occasionally so that all parts of the fabric are evenly colored.


The shop keeper told me to boil fabric in this dye 30 mins. I bet the actual dye container will have proper instructions. Since I bought only 20 gms of the dye I didn't get the container. What I did was let the fabric soak for an hour and then boil it for 20 minutes. Then I let it cool and then washed it 2-3 times in clean water.

The intensity of the color will depend on the amount of dye you add and the duration of time you soak it/boil it.

A Dash of Color - Devi Stores

After living in Bangalore for 9 years I finally found Devi Craft Supply Stores in Shivajinagar. And I promptly went for my first Darshan today! Yippee!

Thank you Bangalore Craft-lovers group on FB for guiding me to it!

So the story goes like this... I had been hearing a lot about this place in Shivajinagar that stocks craft supplies but no one in my circle knew its name of the directions to get to it. So I continued to brave the claustrophobia and the agoraphobia and all other the phobias in general that deal with getting to Chicpet, Bangalore.

So 25th, the Saturday morning I set out for Shivajinagar armed with Google maps print-out and address. And as fate would have Russell Market had to catch fire early that day! I lost my way and ended up in the chaos near the accident area. Finally found Shop #405, Devi Stores :) and it happened to be a garment shop... As he would have done, I suppose, many times in the past, he patiently told me the route to the Devi Craft Store. (Reminder to self - add the location in Google Maps.)

After seeing the stored I realized why it hadn't registered earlier... it looks just like a plain hardware and paint store from outside. And inside its a treasure trove of tools, glues, paints, dyes, boards, sprays, glue guns, and what not. Needless to say, for a few minutes I couldn't make up my mind regarding what to buy... cos my mission was to just locate the store... I hadn't made any list of things to buy. But we women need no list I say! Went ahead and bought some fabric dyes. Hurried back home to test them out.
 
The colors are fantastic! I cant wait to try something new with them!

Jai ho Devi Ma ki!