Beyond the rainbow

[dianaj]

Hi,

Usually I make tie- dyes for kids and I like to use nice bright colors.  I'd like to make some shirts with more muted colors such as earth tones, teals, eggplant, navy ect. that might appeal to adults who aren't into such bright colors. 

Now I know many of you mix your own colors, and there can be issues with premixed dye but time is such an issue for me.

 Are there some colors people would recommend for direct application that I can buy through Dharma, Blick, or Prochem that are nice and soft?  What are people's favorites? 

Thanks a million

Diana



Thanks a million!

Diana

[colorfulsteve]

im more of a bright colored guy but for some earth colors you could go with some browns and greens possibly some yellows. navy colors you could do some navy blue with purple and some reds possibly

[Whit]

I have found that brown goes great with purple!!  In fact, I think that any color mixed from turquoise goes great next to brown.  (t)Purple, (t)green, light turquoise...etc..
I also like to add gradients of brown when I am using it.  It really creates a more noticeable depth.  As of now I really like the "dark brown" as well as "camel".  They look natural together and yet they contrast.

Also, I recently purchased "charcoal gray" in the Procion MX dyes.  It is now one of my favorite!  Very rich...

I regret that I don't have a picture of the brown/purple gradient dye that I sold. 

[dianaj]

Thanks, are these the actual names of the colors and where did you buy them from?

[Whit]

http://www.dharmatrading.com/

These are all Procion MX dyes. 

[dianaj]

Thanks.  I'm familiar with where to buy dye.  I was just looking for recommendations for specific colors because I've found the swatches on the computer don't reflect the actual color once I get it home.

 I thought maybe people had some favorites for the muted colors since buying dye even in small amounts can really add up.  I learned the hard way with "seafoam green"

Have a great weekend!

[tiedyejudy]

Hi, Diana.  I have been trying more muted colors the past couple of years, and here are some I really like
(all from dharma, using their names):
Baby Pink, Maroon, Lilac, Aqua Marine, Olive Drab, Havana Brown, Bronze, Plum Blossom, Orchid, Robin's Egg Blue, Seafoam(in conjunction with other colors in LWI), Lapis, Camel, Periwinkle, Eggplant (made with much less dye than recommended unless you want almost black!), Sage Green.  Hope that helps!
Judy

[deb]

For men's clothes I've found that making "jewel tone" versions of rainbow colors makes a less brazen (and sometimes more accessible and saleable LOL) tie-dye than straight-up rainbow stuff. So crimson instead of scarlet, green a bit on the olive side, yellow a bit on the golden side, orange with a bit more brown to it, navy blue and a plum-type purple really make some nice combos.

I don't have specific colors or shades or combinations I do more than others, but I do enjoy especially playing with browns and oranges, especially come late Summer and Fall. I like mixing greens, like emerald, Spring green (kind yellow) and olive, and shades between; I've done some in dragonskin that way, alternating with shades of brown, that have been really effective.

I find it's easiest for me to mix browns by using orange (Jacquard's Brilliant Orange is my favorite for this) and green (their Emerald Green is a good one), maybe adding some yellow to match the project I'm working on. Can you perhaps set aside an hour sometime and work out a recipe and pre-mix a couple shades of dry powder to make your own "dye lot"?

[fiberartist219]

Personally, I hate buying premixed colors for the same reason that was mentioned above. What looks like a nice chocolate brown on my computer and in the catalog ends up being a rusty brick color on cotton.

I like to mix my own earth tones. I get a beautiful brown by using 4 parts golden yellow, 2 parts midnight blue and one part scarlet or fuschia (from pro chem). Of course, the blue is technically a premixed color too, but I don't know what the components of it are, and it happens to be left from a big stash I bought right out of college. I'm sure you can substitute any primaries for these colors and get some interesting browns.

The point I'm trying to make is that you can get all sorts of muted shades as long as you use all three primaries. Just feel free to mix them in different ratios to get different colors.

[Jaja]

I think you can always make your own pallete, that is calm and good looking by choosing "basic" color tone, make some more of it into different containers, and then alter each conatiner with smaller addition of other color. You can test it on white kitchen paper towel by making marks with brush. Basic color should be some tertiary color.

[2D4]

I know what you mean, trying to figure out what will work for you.... a lot of trial and error.
What I always say is, "I play a lot", and I like to work with a large color palette.
One combination I use is what I call an Autumn Rainbow Spiral....... black cherry, dark brown, rust,
golden brown, marigold, deep yellow, forest green, dark green, turquoise, plum.
These are Dharma dye names and I buy pre-mixed for ease of reproducibility
and basically it's quicker for me. (Though, I do have a few of my regular colors that I mix
because the pre-mixed versions weren't quite right.)

Jo

[deb]

One combination I use is what I call an Autumn Rainbow Spiral....... black cherry, dark brown, rust,
golden brown, marigold, deep yellow, forest green, dark green, turquoise, plum.

Yes! You described it better than I did. Men seem to go for the more earthy rainbow palettes, I'm finding, and besides the classic spirals they also work out wonderfully in dragonskin patterns, particularly on polo shirts for guys.

[Whit]

I thought of you when I was recently at a festival in Northern Arkansas where it seemed to be a prime time for a beautiful array of moths.  I decided to use these awesome creatures as palates to create a  nice color scheme that is pleasing to the eye. 


See what I mean?  (assuming I can figure out the file attachment thing--if not here is a picture of the particular moth that I am speaking of  http://www.cirrusimage.com/Moths/Polyphemus_moth_big.JPG )
The browns, rusts, reds, blues...

[dianaj]

Thanks everyone!!!!