Ombre Dyeing

Ombre dyeing is the technique of dyeing from light to dark and is popular in dance costumes and in today's fashions.

Some ombred ice-skating costumes by Joan Coleman of Calgary, AB.

A silk taffeta skirt before gathering and after gather and ombre

Wool dance tights ombre dyed in 4 gradations of grey.

Mottle & Ombre dyed silk skirt.

A skating skirt and bodice in the process of being sewn. Dyeing is done before construction is completed on a 2 part piece.

2 costumes mottle dyed using 100% nylon netting fabric.

Blue nylon top ombred to darkest blue/black.

Cotton sheeting double circle skirts that have been dyed 3" from hem with a very small transition:

Two silk chiffon tops that have been ombre dyed.

A 3 layered silk chiffon full circle skating skirt with a 3" hem resist.

Samples of some ombre and other techniques done for ice-skating costumes. Designed by Lynda Jones, Calgary, AB. (who also designed the ombred green dress shown above).

A mottled effect at the bottom of a skating skirt. We dyed the silk fluorescent pink and then discharge/mottle dyed the bottom. We were instructed to start the mottled effect below the basted line.

Part of a 35 foot backdrop made of silk chiffon that was ombre dyed.

Some guidelines for ombre/costume dyeing.

	Pricing for ombre dyeing depends on the labour, desired colour, number of transitions and general difficulty of the job. Generally ombre ranges from $50-100 top or skirt to $100-200+ for a formal dress.
	Please safety pin at both of the side seams where you would like the transitions to change and enclose paint/fabric swatches of the desired colour. The more information we have the better.
	Ideally garments should be generally assembled but not finished for ombre. Just side seams, sleeves attached and shoulder. Any top stitching or stitching in polyester thread will not dye. Please sew your garment/costume with the desired colour you want your garment to eventually be and not the original colour if you are sewing in polyester.
	We require a sample piece of fabric for every ombre job we do. Should we receive a job to be ombred that does not have any sampling fabric then we will have to hold the item for dyeing until sampling fabric is received. If sample fabric is not available we cannot guarantee an exact colour match.
	Please note we do not offer fluorescent coloured (pinks, yellows) dye for cellulose fibers and trims (cotton & rayon) and synthetic fabrics (lycra, spandex, nylon). We only offer fluorescent dyes for protein fibres such as silk. A very bright pink and yellow is available for the cotton and synthetic fibres, but they do not fluores.
	We cannot match with great accuracy a velvet containing highly reflective/shiny fibres or a fabric with a different warp/weft to a flat/matte fabric we are going to dye. This will be done on a best efforts basis with no guarantee of a perfect match as it is simply impossible. Also we cannot match with accuracy a dense velvet to a very sheer chiffon. The chiffon simply cannot hold the amount of dye needed to match to the density.
	We do not ombre dye wool.