What is Piece Dyeing and Why Should you Consider a Piece Dye for your Next Sewing Project?

Our piece dye fabrics are over looked by our web customers, in favour of our fancier fantasy tweeds. Couture sewing educator explains what a a piece dye fabric is and why you would consider one for your next sewing project.

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Piece dyeing is the process of dyeing fabric after it has been woven, instead of dyeing the individual yarns before weaving. Most piece-dyed fabrics are solid colours, but they can be patterned designs with multiple colours and fibres. Solid coloured fabrics are versatile and easier to sew than patterned fabrics so it’s not surprising that manufacturers prefer them. I like them because they are easier to trim.

When I went snoop shopping in a famous boutique recently, the jacket I liked best was fabricated in a handsome pink fabric and trimmed with multiple rows of topstitching. It reminded me of a Chanel Boutique design in my vintage collection.

My jacket is a red boucle’ and trimmed at the front edges, neck, hem, pockets, and cuffs. Three rows of topstitching are stitched with regular cotton thread and a 3.5 mm stitch length. The first row of stitching is .5 cm from the edge; the second is 1 cm; and the third is 1.5 cm.

Many solid fabrics are piece-dyed at Linton. Some fabrics are woven with decorative weaves while others or woven with a variety of yarns. The sampler below features a honeycomb weave with several small swatches to show the colours available.

Most piece-dyed fabrics are woven with neutral or cream-colored yarns to make greige (pronounced “grey”) goods. The barrow in the photo shows a stack of greige goods ready to be dyed (“Barrow” is the mill name for a large cart.). The multi-metre pieces are dyed the desired colour in a large machine.