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Gradient dye fail made me look at fabric differently
I spent 4 months trying to get a smooth ombre effect on cotton shirts and they all came out patchy and gross. Last Tuesday at a local craft meetup in Portland, this woman named Jenna showed me how she does it by wetting the fabric fully first before adding dye. I had been dip dyeing everything bone dry for almost a year without realizing that was the problem. After I tried her method on a single shirt, the color spread so even it looked like something from a store. Has anyone else had a basic technique click way later than it should have?
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mason.mary1mo ago
Yeah, that "basic thing you missed for months" pain is real. I had a similar moment with mixing dye... I used to just eyeball the powder and water, thinking close enough was fine. Turns out I was way off on the ratios. When I finally broke down and started using a kitchen scale to weigh everything, my colors stopped looking muddy and washed out. Getting your fabric fully wet before dyeing is huge, but making sure your water temp is consistent through the whole process matters too. Cold spots can cause those patchy lines even if you pre-wet.
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