Quick shopping trip to Helsinki, HobbyPoint, to buy all the fabric colors and supplies we needed and we were ready to go!
Because we're somewhat perfectionists, every fabric needed to be exactly the right color. To us colors are one of the most important thing in cosplay. This part took a really long time as almost all the materials needed to be dyed.
First we bought some fabrics for testing how they would react to the dyeing. After a couple of failures and do overs we bought our fabrics. Apparently artificial suede leather doesn't take this kind of coloring too well and failed miserably. Fabrics from natural materials, such as wool, silk, cotton and linen, are best suited for this kind of dyeing.
Some of the fabrics Ennah used were cotton and linen. Dalin on the other hand used stretch cotton, velveteen, silk and fake leather.
Next we'll be writing about our silkscreen printing process !!
 |
| Testing, testing, testing... |
First we bought some fabrics for testing how they would react to the dyeing. After a couple of failures and do overs we bought our fabrics. Apparently artificial suede leather doesn't take this kind of coloring too well and failed miserably. Fabrics from natural materials, such as wool, silk, cotton and linen, are best suited for this kind of dyeing.
Some of the fabrics Ennah used were cotton and linen. Dalin on the other hand used stretch cotton, velveteen, silk and fake leather.
Ennah had a difficult time with the multicolored gradient haori and Dalin searched the longest time for a perfect material for chest armor that would have been possible to dye with the dyeing materials we had.
Chacha's haori is rather multicolored and bright, so dyeing that thing didn't go so smoothly as it looks like. The point where orange turns to violet was the most critical part as it easily turns out brown. In the end Ennah had to paint it by hand by using the liquid fabric colors to get the effect clear and intensive. Otherwise the whole thing, including the sleeves are dip dyed.
The fabrics were fairly large so we needed to use a big trash bin for dyeing (which we didn't stole from Dalin's apartment building's washing room).
Few tips we could point out for you if you need to dye something is that you should always start by using little pieces of fabric to see how the color will react with your material. It's recommendable to always start with lighter color, getting color out of your dyed fabric is a pain if you manage to dye your fabric too dark.
Always read the manuals in your color packet, they may wary. It's recommended to soak the fabrics thoroughly with water before throwing them in to the color. This helps the color to absorb to the fabric evenly. Use some stick to move the fabric in the container or if the water isn't too hot use some plastic gloves to cover your hands and move the fabric around in the liquid with your hands. Remember to use gloves, getting the color off of your hands will be hard.
Keep the fabric in the liquid for 10-30 minutes or longer depending on how intensive you want the color to be. After that rinse the fabric thoroughly so the water dripping from the fabric is clear. You can still put it in the washer to make sure you've gotten all the extra color out.
Most of the synthetic materials don't absorb fabric colors so well, so remember to buy a fabric that you know can be dyed. If possible buy a sample first and try it, even the finishes of the fabric might affect if it's dyeable or not.
Chacha's haori is rather multicolored and bright, so dyeing that thing didn't go so smoothly as it looks like. The point where orange turns to violet was the most critical part as it easily turns out brown. In the end Ennah had to paint it by hand by using the liquid fabric colors to get the effect clear and intensive. Otherwise the whole thing, including the sleeves are dip dyed.
The fabrics were fairly large so we needed to use a big trash bin for dyeing (which we didn't stole from Dalin's apartment building's washing room).
Few tips we could point out for you if you need to dye something is that you should always start by using little pieces of fabric to see how the color will react with your material. It's recommendable to always start with lighter color, getting color out of your dyed fabric is a pain if you manage to dye your fabric too dark.
Always read the manuals in your color packet, they may wary. It's recommended to soak the fabrics thoroughly with water before throwing them in to the color. This helps the color to absorb to the fabric evenly. Use some stick to move the fabric in the container or if the water isn't too hot use some plastic gloves to cover your hands and move the fabric around in the liquid with your hands. Remember to use gloves, getting the color off of your hands will be hard.
Keep the fabric in the liquid for 10-30 minutes or longer depending on how intensive you want the color to be. After that rinse the fabric thoroughly so the water dripping from the fabric is clear. You can still put it in the washer to make sure you've gotten all the extra color out.
Most of the synthetic materials don't absorb fabric colors so well, so remember to buy a fabric that you know can be dyed. If possible buy a sample first and try it, even the finishes of the fabric might affect if it's dyeable or not.
 |
| Mitsuhides fabrics |
 |
| Fabric dyeing in a trash bin |
 |
| The Horror |
- D & E
No comments:
Post a Comment