If you love textiles, I don't need to tell you that working with vintage fabrics is an agreeable and meditative occupation, as each item mysteriously hints at its own personal history, and it's place in the larger story of textiles. I'm sure you have been amused by the sulky embroidery on a penance apron, the mud stains on a pinafore, or wistfully considered the desolation of pristine unrealized trousseau lingerie. I've learned a little about  the market value of vintage, but remain mostly charmed by it's intrinsic  worth:  the proletariat, everyday appeal, the history, and the excitement of  rebirth into lively color and service in the home. In other words, linens to use, as well as collect. 

Some time ago I was looking for some creative work that would bring in a little pocket money, and the thought of overdyeing printed tablecloths just came to me - or a little bird must have told me. Soon I was scouting thrift stores, buying vintage items in lots from ebay, and soaking their sins away. 

COLD WATER DYES            Fortunately, the natural fibers of mid century vintage textiles lend themselves perfectly to this dye method. Cellulose fibers such as linen, cotton, hemp, rayon - anything made from a plant - are what procion fiber reactive dyes are designed for. Rather than superficially stain the fabric, like RIT, these dyes actually bond to and change the molecular structure of the chromophores, the part of the molecule responsible for it's color. This is the secret to the colors' wash fastness and vivid clarity.     

This process may appeal to those of you who might want to learn this rewarding addition to the distaff arts. Working with cold water dyes doesn't take forever to learn, is safe to do in the house, fun to do outside, and if you love the "paw-tina" of old fabrics you are halfway there. Who knows? It could lead to a career in designing textiles.