This is a quick list of the acid dyes that work well for silk flag making.  More details to come.

• Hot Fuscia #620
• Brilliant Kelly Green #627
• Chartreuse #628
• Brilliant Blue #623  (just ok)
• Dharma used to have a good yellow dye, called “dharma flourescent yellow”, but I’m not sure if it’s still available.

• Flavine Yellow (good yellow)
• Rhodamine B  (fantastic fuscia)
• Aljo Blue (royal blue)
• Violet
• Flourescent Violet

• D818 Roanoke Yellow
• D834 Grand Yellow

• Fluorescent Violet – LX11387
• Fluorescent Blue – LX11384 (sky blue)

Organic Dyestuff Corporation

• Rhodamine B
• Rhodamine G

March 10, 2004

I encourage everyone to try this creative endeavor. The design possibilities are limitless. If you have never dyed a set of flags, this should give you a good start. If you have done dye work in the past, I hope that you find this information useful. There are many dye products available. This page is not meant to be a comprehensive list, it is merely a community resource. Enjoy, create, have fun!

Searching the web for fluorescent dyes and pigments will return a lot of hits. Finding dyes of this type that will actually set on silk and dissolve in water is another story entirely. I was able to find the three primary colors in true fluorescent acid wash dyes. They are listed, along with suppliers, in the “True Fluorescent Dyes” section of this text. To my knowledge all of these suppliers will provide free samples upon request. I am listing dyes available at Dharma as well. It has been my experience that the Dharma Dyes listed below do not pop as strongly as the others.

Dharma Trading Company Dyes

I know these dyes pop, others may or may not.

Jaquard Acid Dyes

• Lilac – #612
• Hot Fuscia #620
• Brilliant Blue #623
• Brilliant Kelly Green #627
• Chartreuse #628

Sennelier Tinfix Design Dye

Canary Yellow #3 – Also an acid wash dye but comes in a very concentrated liquid, dilute with h20 or alcohol then apply. You will need a yellow!

These are just pointers. The above dyes actually have fluorescent properties under black light, but are not true fluorescent dyes.

True Fluorescent Dyes

Now for the intense dyes!!

Day-Glo Color Corporation 1-800-4-dayglo Ask for customer service

• D818 Roanoke Yellow
• D834 Grand Yellow

Pylam Products Company Inc. 1-800-645-6096

• Fluorescent Violet – LX11387
• Fluorescent Blue – LX11384
• Fluorescent Green
• Fluorescent Yellow
• Fluorescent Brightener #351 – For that extra boost

Organic Dyestuff Corporation 1-401-438-8136

• Rhodamine B 400%. — This is a fluorescent acid wash dye that is my primary red, although I have to tone it down with yellow to make a true red. I have only found it at one place, and it was $100/ pound. You may have to beg someone to cut you a pound. They usually only sell in 55 pound drums. There are probably other suppliers of this dye who can provide smaller quantities.
• Rhodamine G — Incredible Fluorescent Pink

By Don Baker
July 2001

Several people have been asking me about my dye work recently, so I thought I would share a few things. This post is in no way meant to be an absolute source of methods, materials, or techniques, and is not even meant to be a guideline, just a sharing of information that I have gathered from several sources and much trial and error. For someone just starting to make flags and dye them, it can be quite intimidating at first, not to mention expensive. I want to lend a hand so that others won’t run out and spend a lot of money on dyes that may not give them the results they are looking for. This post will attempt to focus on getting those beautiful glow-under-black light results that are so sought after.
Tips

Keep in mind that dyeing too light is better than too dark, you can always darken it, but to lighten it you need color remover – RIT – totally removes most colors, or whitewash – RIT – hot stove bath is best method.

I always white wash first before I dye my fabric. Just one very hot 185 F stove top whitewash. This step is required for glow under black light effect. I find that a whitewash after dyeing removes much of the color, even in cold water. Never let dyed fabric sit in whitewash over night, unless you want to remove all of the color to rework a piece.

In my opinion, Dharma Trading Company in San Rafael is one of the best sources for materials I have ever seen: http://www.dharmatrading.com. They have a wide variety of supplies, at extremely low prices. Everything from permanent fabric pens to squirt bottles and artist mixing charts and SILK!!!!!! I hear they even have dyed samples of silk at the retail store where one could examine the different dyes already set on fabric under a portable black light, (black light not included of course).

I primarily use Jaquard Acid Wash Dyes. They are easy to use, clean up nice as long as you don’t let your little spills set in, and a little bottle is only $4.95. Sometimes a little will go a long way. In this category of dyes, I specifically use the following:

* Hot Fuscia – a light concentration yields a popping pink, a heavy concentration gives you a popping red. Do not do as I did and spend $50.00 trying to buy a popping red off the shelf, unless you want to of course, in which case, if you find one, please let me know.
* Brilliant Blue – The name says it all.
* Kelly Green – same as the blue.

That’s it for the Jaquard Acid Dyes.

I found a nice fluorescent yellow at Pro Chemical and Dye in MA. Takes a while to get here, but worth the wait. They also have a fluorescent pink called very hot pink. Very Hot! These are not acid dyes, they are called Pro-One-shot – just add water and heat. Actually, I find that adding vinegar (the acid – 5% acetic acid) to the yellow, changes the color a bit, but not really certain if there is a detrimental impact to the dye. I can tell you that I am really anxiously awaiting the Canary yellow listed below: http://www.prochemical.com/store/.

Another option for yellow is Sennelier Tinfix Design Canary #3 at Dharma. I don’t remember the color number, so you will have to look at the chart on the website. I have some of this on order and have not actually tried it. But a friend recommends it highly.

So there we have it. Red, Blue, Yellow. To get other colors you can mix the above dyes.

Other Colors – Keep in mind that just because red is red in natural light, it may not be red under black light, and actually, it is not, but Fuscia is. This phenomenon can occur when mixing any color of dye.

* Popping Orange = F-Yellow and Fuscia. Start with Yellow and go up slowly with the Fuscia solution (hmm). You must set the dye samples on fabric as you experiment and examine under black light. More on measuring dyes a little later on. My orange is 2 tablespoons of yellow one-shot to 2 cups H2O. To this add 30 ccs (scientific, not really, I just happen to have some syringes laying about) of Fuscia sol’n (1 teaspoon to 2 cups H2O) You could of course bring this down proportionately. Popping orange looks red in natural light.
* Purple = Fuscia and Blue.- many shades, experiment.
* Many others can be made, and many shades, for anyone willing to invest a little money and some of their time. One tip – write it down so you will have it the next time you need it.

Techniques

There are many, and I usually use more than one. One of the first things I do is make stock solutions with my dyes. With the acid dyes they keep for months, or would if you don’t use them, as long as you do not activate them with vinegar, they will work well over time. I keep my stock solutions in a dark closet. Don’t forget that colors can fade in prolonged exposure to light.

Most of my stock sol’n are 1 teaspoon of dye to 2 cups water. Mix it, and store it. Also, professionals dont measure dye powder, they weigh it. I don’t have a gram scale yet.

To Prepare Stock Solutions:

1. Measure dye powder into jar. Use l/2 oz. for a quart jar or 1/4 OZ. for a pint. More for strong colors, less for pastels Caution: do not inhale dye powders.
2. Add warm tap water to powder a little at a time, stir carefully to make a smooth paste.
3. Generally add enough warm water to make up a quart of solution (or pint).
4. Additional Information: Most stock solutions keep for months, be sure to label bottle and lids with color name and date, show type of dye. I usually label them with the quantities of powder I added as well.

To Dye:

I bought a big lobster pot, and use a tall rack from my microwave to keep the fabric up out of the water when steaming it. There are a multitude of other methods, and many great books on the topic for anyone interested in doing the research.

1. Build up a “head of steam” in the pot.
1. Fill bottom of pot with 2 inches of water.
2. Add 1 cup of vinegar or 5 tsp. of Acetic Acid (56%) or 3 tsp’s. of Glacial 98% Acetic Acid.
3. Put rack in pot, cover pot with tightly fitting lid. Add weight on top of lid if necessary to hold lid down tightly (such as a brick).
4. Heat pot. Caution: Avoid burns by removing lid with care and wearing oven glove.
2. Mix “pouring colors” in plastic cups. Use 1-3 cups of “pouring colors” per batch.
1. Basic Recipe
1. Fill cup half full of water.
2. Add 1 to 8 Tblsp’s of dye stock solutions (1 Tblsp for pastels, 8 Tblsp’s for dark colors). I find that pastels are excellent under black light, the light gets through the silk and electrifies the flags.
3. Add either 3 Tblsp’s vinegar or 1 tsp acetic acid to each cup – very important. this activates the dye and makes it bright
2. Single color method: Add different amounts of the same color dye stock to each cup. For example: 1 Tblsp to 1st cup, 4 Tblsp’s to 2nd cup, 8 Tblsp’s to 3rd cup
3. Multi-color method: Add different color to each cup. Try using colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel (triads). For example: add scarlet or magenta to 1st cup, yellow to second cup, turquoise or blue to 3rd cup.
4. Additional information: Stock colors may be mixed to make other pouring colors. Use an eye dropper to add small amounts of black or other colors, to shade, for example: shades of one color by putting the same color in each plastic cup, but add no black to the 1st, 6 drops black to 2nd, 20 drops black to 3rd, and 50 drops black to fourth. This helps keep your finished colors more subtle and less garish/tie-dye looking.
3. Lay fiber on rack in steaming pot. Drizzle 1 or 2 cups of various pouring colors on top of fiber. Put on lid and let steam. More colors may be added in 5-10 mins. Use different drizzle “patterns”: figure-8, Z’s, S’s, H’s.
4. Cover pot and steam for 10-15 mins. Weigh down yarn with dinner plate if pot is not full of yarn or fiber. If pot is tightly filled let steam extra 5-10 mins. Carefully (wear oven mitt) remove lid and check color. Turn fiber over and drizzle on more colors. Steam another 5-10 mins. or more. If you had yarn twisted for “ikat effect” use dowels to untwist for last few minutes of steaming.
5. Let fiber cool to hand temperature, then rinse well to remove unfixed colors. Wash in warm soapy water with liquid, dishwashing detergent then rinse if you used deep tone colors. Yarns will look their most fluffy if excess water is removed quickly by spinning in washing machine or squeezing in several bath towels.

These directions were originally written for use with Kiton Wool Dyes, but any Wool Acid leveling type dye will work similarly.

Often, I apply my sol’n to the fabric in different patterns using squirt bottles. I lay the fabric out on the floor or on a screen rack over my bathtub. Bleach is good for getting out any stains, but these dyes don’t cling to porcelain.

Tie dye is great too. there are many methods available from web searches. Get creative, have fun, and don’t set any boundaries for yourself or for others. For quite some time I was trying to get the results that I saw on other flags. When I stopped trying to imitate, and began to create, I started to get very good results.

There was another post a few weeks back from Candida about fluorescent dyes. This is an excellent reference.

All my love,
Don

Ultimately, all real communication is about truth. And ultimately, the only real truth is love. That is why, when love is present, so is communication. And when communication is difficult, it is a sign that love is not fully present.
– unknown

Sewing a set of flags isn’t that difficult, but knowing where to put the cords and how to sew them in place without breaking a lot of needles can be challenging.

Click any picture to enlarge it.

First lets look at the flag itself. This is a standard sized flag, 36"x45", made of 8mm silk Habotai.

We’ve started with a piece of silk that’s 72" long, and folded it in half to get two 36" flags. The fold is down the long side, so this picture actually shows two flags, one on top of the other. We want both flags to be the same, so we’ll mark the cord positions on both flags at the same time.

We have names for the parts of the flag:

• Handle – This is where the flag is held. This is where the hand is in the picture.
• Tip – The part that leads the way when you’re flagging. This is where the pen is in the picture.
• Lead edge – The edge between the Handle and the Tip
• Tail – The edge from the Tip down the short side.

Time to Cut the Cord

We’re going to sew in three lines of weighted cord.

First is the Long cord.

It starts at the Handle, goes around the Tip, and then halfway down the short side.

In our example, it runs two-thirds of the long side and halfway down the short side, so it’s (2/3 * 45") + (1/2 * 36"), or about 48" long.

Next is the Medium cord.

It usually runs 1/3 of the long side, and 1/4 of the short side.

So for our example, it’s (1/3 * 45") + (1/4 * 36") = 24 inches.

Notice that it’s half the distance of the Long cord on each side.

And finally we have the Short cord. It’s half the distance of the Medium cord.

So, it’s 1/6 of the long side, and 1/8 of the short side, or (1/6 * 45) + (1/8 * 36), or 12 inches.

Note: when we sew the weights in place, the Short cord will actually be squeezed between the other two, unlike here in the picture.

Here’s the short side of the flag – the Tail edge. Mark the ends of each cord on the silk. This will tell us where to start sewing in the cords.

If you look closely you can see two marks for the short cord – one for each flag.

Be warned that any cats in the area are drawn to silk like magnets. This little one worked her way into over a dozen shots while we were making this tutorial.

After cutting the weighted cord, you’ll notice that the ends quickly start fraying. We want to stop that so the weights don’t start falling out.

A moment in a flame is all it takes to singe the ends of the cords.

Notice that some weights are now completely exposed; just cut those off. I cut the cord just a bit longer to take that into account.

Sewing the weights into the fabric

• Use a zigzag stitch for all the steps, including backstitching.

• Use a medium length stitch (it’s 2.5 on my Janome), and a stitch wide enough to reach across the lead weight inside the cord. (3 on my machine).
• Be careful that your zigzag reaches across the cord and not through it. If the needle hits the lead weight running down the center it can easily snap off and go flying off in any direction – ouch.
• Most people break a lot of needles when they first start sewing flags.
• Some machines have a zigzag stitch that wide enough to reach across two or three cords at the same time. You can sew them all in place at once and save steps and time. I find it easier to sew the cords one at a time, so we’ll do that now.





Since we marked the cords on the short side (the Tail edge), that’s where we’ll start sewing.

Line up the Long cord with the first mark, which is at the halfway point on the short side.

(Sorry, the mark is hidden by the cord in the picture, but it’s there.)





Roll the weight into the edge of the fabric





Hold the rolled fabric with the cord inside and slide it under the presser foot.

Start a little in from the end of the cord, so that the pressor foot is holding the cord in place and the zigzag stitch will reach across the cord.





Zigzag stitch across the cord to lock it in place, and then backstitch to move off the end of the cord.

This seals up the end of the rolled fabric, to make sure those little weights inside the cord stay put.





Now we’re ready to start sewing the cord into the fabric edge.

Twist the cord a couple of turns clockwise – notice the twist in the white cord.





Then hold the cord against the fabric and untwist. The cord gets rolled into the fabric edge and everything lays flat.

Doesn’t it look nice?

This method of twisting the cord and then untwisting it to roll it into the fabric is a great way to get everything to lay flat.
We’ll be using it a lot.

Zigzag stitch the cord into the fabric until you get near the next mark, which is the 1/4 mark for the medium cord.





Notice that the sewing is still a few inches away from the mark. We’ll use this space to get the next cord rolled into the fabric.

Now we’ll add the Medium cord.

First twist the long cord a couple of turns clockwist – notice how the long cord is twisted in the picture.

Position the Medium cord so it will start at the mark and hold it next to the Long cord against the edge of the fabric.





Untwist the cords so they get rolled into the fabric and everything lays flat. The long cord will be on the outside edge of the fabric, and the medium cord is on the inside – on the left side in the picture.





Now we’ll lock the medium cord in place by zigzag stitching across it.

If you look closely, you can see where the medium cord starts, near my index finger.

Continue zigzag stitching down the long cord to where my finger is, a little past the start of the medium cord..





Now we’re going to jump over to the medium cord and lock it into place.

Lift the presser foot and slide the fabric over so the needle is over the medium cord.

Lower the presser and backstitch to the start of the medium cord, and then start stitching it just like you did with the long cord.





Here you can see that I’m stitching the medium cord.

The long cord is at the fabric edge. It’s not getting stitched, but it can’t go anywhere and we’ll take care of it later.

Stitch down to near the third mark, which is where we’ll add the short cord.





Oops, there’s a weight dangling out of the cord from when I singed the ends. Let’s cut that off now.





This bit is a bit tricky, but it’s very similar to earlier when we added the medium cord.

Twist the medium and long cords a couple of turns clockwise.





Now put the short cord *between* them. The cord will start at the mark on the fabric.





Slide the three cords to the edge of the fabric.





And untwist them so they get rolled in the fabric.

Everything is nice and flat again!





Now we’ll lock in the short cord the same way we did with the medium one.

Stitch a little past the start of the short cord, and then lift the presser foot and slide the fabric over.

Backstitch to the start of the short cord and then start stitching it in.





Notice we’re stitching the middle cord in place.

The medium cord is on the left and the long cord is on the right, and they’re both locked in place. We’ll deal with them later.





The backstitch button is a wonderful thing.





Continue stitching the short cord in place.

To keep everything nice and flat, just keep repeating the method where you twist the cords and then untwist them into the fabric.





Stitch down to about three or four inches from the edge.

Things are about to get tricky, so let’s it easier by working with the cord inside the curve of the corner – it’s the medium cord, on the left.

Move the presser foot back to the medium cord, which is furthest to the left in the picture. We want to sew that one first, because it’s the "inside track" and will help hold everything in place.





We’re going to do that same twist/untwist thing around the corner.

Holding the three cords together, twist them a couple of times clockwise.

Lay them down on the fabric, slightly in from the edge.

Notice that the twists in the cords are all at the corner.





The space between the cord bundle and the fabric edge is just the width of the cord bundle. We’re going to fold that over to start the untwisting.

Press down on the cords, about about an inch from the corner, and a few inches from that. This create a clean space for the fabric loop, which will help when we do the untwist.





Fold the edge of the fabric over, and untwist the cord. Make sure to untwist the same number of times that you twisted earlier.

Keep pressing down at those two points. The fabric between those points is nice and flat, see?

The corner has the extra length of cord twisted into the fabric. Now we can take care of that.





Still holding down the two points, slowly tug the cords to pull out the extra from the corner. Pull on them one at a time – a little on one, then the next, and so on until you work out all the extra cord.

The corner will be pulled into a flat curve. The extra fabric can be tucked into the corner as you tug out the extra cord.

In the picture you can see a little extra fabric peek out of the corner. It’s getting worked into the curve.





Now the fabric and cords lay flat as they curve around the corner.

This can be a little tricky at first, but you can try again if you don’t get it. Since the presser foot is holding your place just before the corner, you can unroll the cords and do this part again. .

Hold everything in place and stitch around the corner.

 





You’ll definitely want to slow down as you stitch around the corner.





Whew. The hard part is done.

Now we’ll finish stitching the weights in.

Here, I’ve done the cord twist…





Put them in place just in from the fabric edge.





And untwist to roll them in the fabric.

Everything is nice and flat.





Very soon you’ll reach the end of the short cord in the middle.

We want to lock this end of the short cord in place. So move over to the short/middle cord and stitch/backstitch it into place, and then move back to the medium/left cord.

Keep working your way down the side. Just keep doing the twist/untwist with the two cords.

When you reach the end of the medium cord, backstitch and lock it in place, then move over to the long cord on the right.





Now just stitch this last cord to its end.





We want to secure the end well.

Stitch past the end of the cord, so you’re sewing just the rolled fabric.

Backstitch back up onto the long cord a little, and then stitch off the end again.

Now you can remove the fabric and cut the thread.

That completes the first line.

Woo hoo!

This is a good time to stand up and do a little dance because you’re so awesome. Go ahead, you deserve it.

Plenty of people actually stop at this point. Since every line of cord is stitched at the ends, they are locked in place. If you like, you can put this flag down and start working on your second one.

Going all the Way

I like to stitch each of the cords in place. It makes for a tight, clean edge, and I think it makes the flags a little more sturdy. I think they also fly a little "crisper" too. Yes, some of my friends say I’m a lttle OCD.

I’m OK with that.





Go back to the fabric’s short side and find the spot where you added the medium cord.

You can see where a second cord starts, and there’s a bit of backstitching to lock it in place.

We want to stitch that cord in place.





Here we go. After all that work rolling the edge and working around the corner, this is really easy.





The corner is much simpler now since all the hard part is finished.

Still, you’ll want to slow down as you work around the curve until you get the hang of it.

Ooops, I broke a thread.





After the corner, finish sewing until you reach the point where the medium cord ends and you switched over to the long cord.

Remember to backstitch to lock the thread before you cut it.





And now we’re down to that last cord.

 

 





Each step gets a little easier and a little faster.





Trim any threads, and you’re ready to sew the second flag.

Wasn’t that fun? Now you have a new set of flags and you’re ready to dance!

Whoops, looks like I didn’t take a picture of the finished flag. Coming soon!

These were made with the idea to create stacked disks using pleat ties. The areas where the pads overlap was the real tricky bit, but it came out pretty nice.

The shape reminds me of a prickly pear cactus. Fun!

A fun, bright design that looks great spinning.

This was an interesting design to tie. The idea was to create an asymmetrical star with the center set close to the lead edge.