I’m looking for poly china silk to make colorguard flags. I’m very familiar with band sites that sell solid color and shaded poly china silk; however, I’m looking for varigated, tie dyed, or shaded fabric that will go from yellow to red. It doesn’t have to be poly china silk, but it does have to be $10 or less a yard and have a similiar weight as the poly silk. These flags will be 8′ long, I need 30 of them and I’d like to avoid piecing them. We are considering dyeing them, but I’m not familar with any techniques and am concerned about getting vibrant colors.
For the curious, the theme of the show is fire and ice. These flags will open the show and need to POP.
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Have you looked into the nylon used for lightweight jackets. the ripstop would be too heavy, but it does come plain and is quite light and can be dyed. I don't know where you are so I can't suggest a source. Cathy
How wide are your flags? Some poly silks come in 45", and some in 58-60". If one of those widths is correct, you need 2 2/3 yards for each flag and can calculate the number you can get from one bolt or length of fabric.
For your desired effect, it might be easiest to buy bright yellow fabric, and then over-dye it twice, tied, once with orange dye (to the 2/3 point) and then with red dye (to 1/3).
While messy, tie-dying is easy; we always did it outside under shade trees, stringing up long lines to dry our products. With so many to dye, you could hang yours while still tied, upside down, so that the darker colors bleed into the lighter colors.
Of course, you'll want to test the dyes on a small sample first!
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