tote bags

[fiberartist219]

Has anyone tried dyeing tote bags? They are made out of a thick canvas, and when I tried dyeing them, they looked horrible. Are this impossible to get good tie dyes from? Should I just stick to painting them and hope for the best?

[pburch]

It's difficult to get dye to penetrate tightly-woven canvas. I've had problems with getting the canvas to take much color; when dyeing in the same dyebath with other items, the canvas always takes the dye more lightly than other fabrics do. In the case of some canvas chair seat covers, I had problems with ring dyeing, which is where the outer layer of the fiber dyes but the inner core does not, so that wear on the fabric removes the dye too easily. (Of course all fabric paint shows the latter problem, as well.)

Try presoaking in water to which you've added a drop of Synthrapol or hand dishwashing detergent, or perhaps Calsolene oil, to break the surface tension of the water. If you're using a soda ash presoak, use this along with the soda ash. Use more dye than usual, or dye more than once.

Paula

[Lelia187]

I've recently dyed canvas. I believe it was called "Cotton Duck Canvas" or some such thing and I had no problems with the canvas accepting the dye! I did use LWI though, maybe that's the difference. Plus, I dyed the canvas and then sewed it into a bag.

[Jaja]

I've tried only couple of bags - if you mean this type of canvas bag:


It came out quite well - even not exactly as I planned to.

You can switch rather to itajime, than to painting, if painting is not your favourite hobby.
I think itajime goes well with bags.

[fiberartist219]

Hmm... I hadn't thought about itajame on canvas. I might have to try it. My bags didn't come out at all like yours did. I was trying to do the crinkle "chaos" dye and it just came out as blobs that blended into each other. It was not at all attractive, and I had to find other ways to decorate them.

[tiedyejudy]

If you sew, making totes from lighter fabric works really well.  I used muslin to make some totes awhile back, and they go together really easy.  Here are some samples:

 


I lined these with complementary fabric and added some pockets, but you could just make the tote, attach a strap, and you're good to go.  BTW, I dyed the fabric before sewing into a tote.

Judy