Project description
I am looking for a dyer to make one coordinated set of household textiles in indigo blue: two kitchen towels, a tablecloth of roughly 140 by 180 cm, and a pair of pillowcases 50 by 70. Everything must be natural fibre — a firm cotton for the towels, linen or a linen blend for the cloth, a softer cotton for the pillowcases. Indigo does not take on synthetics at all; a polyester blend would rinse out pale and blotchy, so please do not substitute anything man-made, and if you are buying the cloth yourself, tell me what you have picked before you cut into it.
On the pattern I want large-scale shibori, not a fine all-over ripple. Pleating and clamping, binding with thread, and pole wrapping with the fabric pushed down the cylinder, so the finished cloth reads as broad diagonal bands and wide cloudy sweeps with clear white channels between them. The blue should have real depth, built up over several dips with airing in between, going almost ink-dark along the folds. Before any dyeing the cloth needs scouring and decatising, so the shrinkage happens in your workshop and not the first time I wash the tablecloth. After dyeing I expect proper fixing and rinsing until the water runs clear, otherwise the dye will keep shedding for years.
I understand and accept that every piece comes out its own. An exact copy of a pattern cannot be repeated, and no two sets are ever identical — please say this plainly before we agree terms, and tell me how much variation between pieces is normal in your hands, so that I am not surprised when the two towels differ. The vat itself, with dye and alkali in it, is your work: gloves, ventilation, a proper space. It is not something I would ever set up at home with children in the house, which is exactly why I am hiring rather than buying a kit. I also know indigo bleeds for the first few washes, so the set gets washed separately and in cold water, and a kitchen towel can easily stain light laundry — I want that written into the care note, not mentioned in passing.
What I expect from the job:
— a test swatch on a scrap of the same cloth before the main batch, showing the pattern scale and the final shade;
— fabric prepared and decatised in advance, with the shrinkage allowance already worked into the cut sizes;
— several dips to reach the depth of blue we agree on the swatch, with airing between them;
— fixing and rinsing until the rinse water is clear, then a full dry and press;
— straight, evenly hemmed edges on all five pieces, mitred corners on the tablecloth;
— a short written care note: wash separately, cold water, no bleach, expect the first washes to run;
— photographs of each finished piece in daylight before shipping;
— a schedule with a firm handover date, and the budget agreed up front with no extras added later.
On the pattern I want large-scale shibori, not a fine all-over ripple. Pleating and clamping, binding with thread, and pole wrapping with the fabric pushed down the cylinder, so the finished cloth reads as broad diagonal bands and wide cloudy sweeps with clear white channels between them. The blue should have real depth, built up over several dips with airing in between, going almost ink-dark along the folds. Before any dyeing the cloth needs scouring and decatising, so the shrinkage happens in your workshop and not the first time I wash the tablecloth. After dyeing I expect proper fixing and rinsing until the water runs clear, otherwise the dye will keep shedding for years.
I understand and accept that every piece comes out its own. An exact copy of a pattern cannot be repeated, and no two sets are ever identical — please say this plainly before we agree terms, and tell me how much variation between pieces is normal in your hands, so that I am not surprised when the two towels differ. The vat itself, with dye and alkali in it, is your work: gloves, ventilation, a proper space. It is not something I would ever set up at home with children in the house, which is exactly why I am hiring rather than buying a kit. I also know indigo bleeds for the first few washes, so the set gets washed separately and in cold water, and a kitchen towel can easily stain light laundry — I want that written into the care note, not mentioned in passing.
What I expect from the job:
— a test swatch on a scrap of the same cloth before the main batch, showing the pattern scale and the final shade;
— fabric prepared and decatised in advance, with the shrinkage allowance already worked into the cut sizes;
— several dips to reach the depth of blue we agree on the swatch, with airing between them;
— fixing and rinsing until the rinse water is clear, then a full dry and press;
— straight, evenly hemmed edges on all five pieces, mitred corners on the tablecloth;
— a short written care note: wash separately, cold water, no bleach, expect the first washes to run;
— photographs of each finished piece in daylight before shipping;
— a schedule with a firm handover date, and the budget agreed up front with no extras added later.
Other / Miscellaneous Cash, Bank transfer
