As a hand-dyer, I can sympathise with you - it is very disappointing to not get something that is at least close to what you were expecting.

On the other side of the same equation I have to emphasise that you need to check the colour you want in as close a match to the fabric you want as you can, because of the different way the fabrics take the dye. This is particularly important where the fabrics have a mix of natural and man-made fibres - e.g. Lugana, Jazlyn, Jobelan. The fibre-reactive dyes are formulated to work by bonding chemically with the cellulose fibres in the fabric. Cellulose is the natural plant material, and can be found in both linen and cotton fibres, and to a much lesser extent in rayon. Rayon is made from wood pulp, so technically it could be considered a natural fibre. In reality, however, the processing it goes through results in it behaving more like a man-made fibre.

Lugana, Jazlyn and Jobelan will always give much paler results than linen because there is less cellulose in the fibres of the fabric for the dyes to bond with, so the bonded dye molecules are effectively spaced further apart. Cotton fabrics will give varying depths of colour (depending on the weave and count of the fabric). Linen gives the most intense colours of all, and the higher the thread count, the more intense the colour - the more threads per inch, the more colour per inch.

Hope that helps!

Catherine R in NZ
www.countrystitch.com