1/23/10

Alcohol Dyed Interfacing Tutorial

Here's a little tutorial I put together--low budget. Don't laugh :) Dyeing interfacing with alcohol inks. You'll need some stiff interfacing (non fusible) of any kind, but this doesn't work as well for Peltex or very thick interfacing which will soak up too much dye and alcohol. I've also used this technique for dyeing fabric softener sheets. Other materials: alcohol, alcohol inks, Schmincke Tro-Col powder.


Step 1. Cut your interfacing into smaller sheets to work with. Pour a little alcohol in a bowl and add some drops of alcohol inks. I like to work with multiple colors in the same range.Step 2. Crumple up a small sheet of interfacing and roll it in the alcohol to soak up the dye. WEAR GLOVES unless you want to have colorful hands.Squeeze the interfacing and rub it together to distribute the dye. Crumple and work it with your hands. Repeat until you are satisfied with the intensity and distribution of the color.
When you're done, yours should look something like this. It's still wet with alcohol but we need to set the color before rinsing it out.Step 3. Lay some sheets of newspaper on your ironing surface and place the colored interfacing on top of it. Cover it with more newspaper and iron the interfacing to heat set it. This does not smell pleasant so do not inhale deeply. You don't need to completey dry the interfacing, just get it good and hot with the iron and allow the alcohol to be absorbed by the newspaper. Use care with your iron, since alcohol is flammable. Don't work near a flame. When the interfacing is a bit dryer you may be able to iron it directly or use a teflon sheet to protect your iron.Step 4. Rinse your interfacing in soapy water and wring it out. You should not see much color rinse away. If all the color comes out, it wasn't heat set well enough. Try again.Step 5. I love to add Schmincke powder to mine. This is a very fine golden powder for use with acrylics. While the interfacing is wet, sprinkle a bit here and there to add a golden sparkle to the material. Iron right over this to set it to the material. You may want to use a teflon sheet to protect your iron.When your interfacing is dry, you're done! Now go do something fun with it!!

24 comments:

  1. Great tutorial! I'll have to give this a try.
    Thanks!

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  2. Thanks for the tutorial. Why do you advise washing and heat setting? Would that step be necessary if the thing you used the colored interfacing for would not be worn? Say if I used dryer sheets in place of the interfacing and used the sheets in a piece of wall/fiber art? Oh, maybe the unwashed pieces would feel stiff or smell?

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  3. Thanks Kelli, I'll have to give it a try!! And where oh where can I get the Schminke powder?? Guess I will be hunting tonite online, but I would much rather get it locally. Instant gratification and all! LOL!!

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  4. Thank you for the tutorial - I must get some alcohol inks and try this - the colours are so vibrant.

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  5. Kelli, love the tute. I just ordered your book on Amazon...can't wait! Tina Hamilton

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  6. WEAR GLOVES unless you want to have colorful hands...
    Been there, the color in your cuticles wears off after about a week!

    Thanks for the tutorial

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  7. Thank you Kelli! This is awesome.

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  8. Question - I've been looking at the Schminke powder and there appears to be different kinds. What Schminke powder do you use? and where do you get it?
    Thanks.

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  9. Oh my...I misspelled Schmincke--I've corrected in my post. I am using Schmincke Tro-Col Metallic Powder - Rich Pale Gold, which is availabe from Jerry's Artarama and probably other places if ya google it. It's some sort of dutch pixie powder :) I learned about it from Lisa Engelbrecht. This is the fine fine fine powder--some of the others are coarse and won't work.

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  10. Why do I rinse out the alcohol? Hmmm, seemed like the right thing to do in case it would later deteriorate the material. Up to you!

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  11. Hey Kelli.........this looks like fun!
    I have everything out in the Thread Shed......I better go and get busy.
    Thanks for sharing your technique.
    LuAnn in Oregon
    http://luannkessi.blogspot.com/

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  12. Thanks for the tutorial, I'm going to try it this weekend!

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  13. Think for the Pixie Dust info!

    jo

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  14. Wonderful tutorial! Can't wait to try this.

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  15. Think??? Thanks for the Pixie Dust info - I ordered it from Jerry's yesterday! Weeeeeeeeee!

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  16. Here's a little TIP I learned from Lisa E...when you get the bottle of Schmincke, take a small piece of nylon stocking and place it over the mouth, then secure with a rubber band. This makes an automatic "shaker"--the powder is sooooo fine that you really need something to help disperse it. Enjoy! Kelli

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  17. very cool idea, thank Kelli! I'll give it a try too.

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  18. Thanks for the tutorial! My inks arrived yesterday and I've been playing today. Such fun!! Is there a reason to iron/heat set while the alcohol is wet? I dyed a bunch and by the time I got to the ironing stage, the alcohol was dry. I had a little of the pink/red wash out and am not sure if it's because the alcohol was dry or because it wasn't heat set well enough.

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  19. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  20. Why do you use interfacing in particular?

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  21. The idea is to find more uses for common materials you may have around or be able to find easily. Why just stick to how things have been traditionally used? No other reason than just to see what happens and experiment with a new material.

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