Determining Fibre Content

Unless one is dyeing fabrics there may not be any need to know the fibre content of any fabric. The colours, patterns and the intended use for a particular fabric, are the prime considerations.
In dyeing fabric however, determining the fibre content of any fabric is the first consideration before any fabric hits the dye water. If the right dye for a particular fabric is not used, all will be in vain.
Recently I purchased a piece of fabric labelled linen/polyester. I knew that my dyes (Procion MX) would not touch the polyester but it would be interesting to see what would happen to the linen component. Nilch, nothing, not a hint of colour! Obviously no linen present. This piece of fabric did have a 'linen' look so perhaps that justified its 'linen' classification. All was not lost however, and Plan B had me painting a repeating motif on to this fabric using a textile pigment (see photo below).
Many fabrics in shops of course do have labels stating their fibre content, and proportions if more than one type of fibre is blended in the fabric. However, it is not always quite that simple and standard practice is to burn a small snippet and observe the burning characteristics. I have discovered a good Fiber Burn Chart on www.ditzyprints.com/dpburnchart.html. However, I am not sure when this was written as she states that she carries in her purse a pair of collapsable scissors and a lighter in an old candy tin. Um.... not sure whether I would like to have such items found in my purse at Customs, or anywhere else in fact! At The Fabric Warehouse, Sar Street, Thorndon, Wellington, they have their own cigarette lighter for this very purpose.
Earlier in the blogs I refered to an url to use if you wish to receive this blog as a regular email. This site, despite originally being accessible, seemed to go awol. It is now back, and 'beta' (better) so they say!. Visit http://www.beta.rssfwd.com and follow the three simple instructions. If this site doesn't open by clicking on the url, copy and paste it into your Google search and go from there.


FL16 Painted 'Linen'/Polyester 150cm x 1.4m


And just to be cheerful in this time of early spring. This photo came across the internet. Wouldn't we all like to have roses like these in our gardens!

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Understanding fibre content and its importance when dyeing

I am often asked whether I will dye some fabric, or a garment. Always my first question is 'what is the fibre content of the fabric?' Determining the fibre content of a fabric, if not at first obvious, is best done with the burn test (a future blog topic). Once this is established, the query will often cease at this point, that is, if the fabric is of a synthetic nature. I can only dye natural fibres, these being cotton, silk, rayon, linen in the main. I do not dye wool by choice and leave this to the wool experts.
I prefer to dye lengths of fabric, rather than garments. Garments are risky. Firstly, they have folds and seams which act as resists and, if a previously worn garment, any fading, stains or marks will not be eradicated by over-dyeing. Also most garments are stitched with a synthetic thread which will not take the dye and will remain the original colour of the garment.
I keep a swatch book of pieces dyed using Procion MX Fibre Reactive dyes which are my dyes of choice (lots more about these coming up). When dyeing a new colour or combination of colours for the first time, I add additional pieces of fabrics, one being a cotton and usually a couple of silks. When these have gone through an immersion dye process the differences in their final colouring can be quite interesting. Often it would appear that they have all come from different dye baths. It is the fibre content which is determining their final colour. I now know that my purple dye will produce a cerise on silks, and to get that purple I need to use only a navy and a turquoise. Dyeing is definitely not an exact science but it sure is fun!
Here are two such examples from my swatch book. Each show a cotton, silk, silk/rayon velvet and a silk organza.


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