Hello AT,
I need help finding a place in LA to dye my white linen/cotton Pottery Barn drapes to match my walls monochromatically. My walls are painted Syacamore (very pale) green. I know that you should pick the paint to match the drapes but it's too late. I don't even care if its not perfect but I am not a fan of these white white curtains. Any help would be so so apprecaited.
Thanks!
Adam
(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.)
Link To All Good Questions
Link To All Good Questions
I don't know if this is an up-to-date entry or not, but worth a try (no website):
Mission Dye House : They are a upper end garment and piece good dyehouse. They specialize in tencil garment dyeing in addition to fleece, cotton, and polyester. They have been in the business for 25 years and run a very service oriented business. Mission Dye House...." Color Accomplished" Address: 905 East 8th Street Los Angeles, California 90021 USA Phone: 213 236-9780 Fax: 213-489-3862 Email: vdye4u@aol.com ContactName: Harold Partovi / Manager
This is in Ben Lomond:
http://www.fabricdyeing.com/home.html
After checking out prices, you may find you might want to buy new, and use your current items in another room?
Try DYING ART (I think it is in glendale) they did a wonderful job on linens for me several years ago. Here is the number 818-246-5440 or 818-640-4337.
Before dyeing ANYTHING, make sure it is washed first to remove any of the finishes or starchy stuff that manufacturers put onto fabric so it looks nice. (Can't think of the word - it's nearly midnight here) The dye will not be taken evenly. You need to wash in detergent, no fabric softener.
Also, dyeing can result in shrinkage along the length of the fabric ie your curtains can end up shorter, as much as 10cm per 2 metres, or 2 inches per yard.
Well, you COULD dye them yourself with rit dye. (Available in craft stores, fabric stores and sometimes even supermarket.) See http://www.ritdye.com/ for how-tos. The trick to dying yourself is to WET your fabric first before putting it in a dye bath (and also, as noted above, you should have washed it previously).
It seems like what really bugs you is the stark whitness of the curtains. You could add a TRIM, such as very wide grosgrain ribbon all the way around the curtain to tie it in to your wall color. (You could do horizontal lines of grossgrain on the top or bottom of the curtain.) You could also remove the lower third of the curtain and replace it with a linen in the shade of green of your choice. Or you could add a flounce to the top of your curtain in a green fabric. WIth plain white curtains you have lots of options for embellishment using green. Just a little green is all you need to tie the curtains in with the rest of your room.
Thank you so much for helping me out! I am amazed at this site and by what I learned.
Doesn't shrinking occur only if I dry them? What if I blow dry them?
Thanks, Adam
Dying involves putting the fabric in a very hot water bath. If the fabric is pre-shrunk before dying, nothing bad will happen. (You really have no way of knowing this with your curtains.) But if the fabric is not pre-shrunk, you will probably experience some loss of length. I htink your best bet is to take the curtains to a seamstress and have them altered. Have a couple of wide bands of a green linen fabric added to the bottom. (To form several horizontal stripes in various widths.) Or you could apply some kind of green trim with stitch witchery, a glue gun or sewing machine.