Tiger Thread Now In The Us

[tiggertlee]

No, Tiger is polyester and it is possible to dye it though most will tell you that you can't. If your interested I can put up some photos of the custom colours I have done.

I would love to see how this is done and your results!!!

[FoamerAce]

No, Tiger is polyester and it is possible to dye it though most will tell you that you can't. If your interested I can put up some photos of the custom colours I have done.

I would love to see how this is done and your results!!!

As would I. I was one of the opinion that it was not possible to dye polyester with acceptable results.

[King's X]

I have been using the John James needles for about 2 years now. I really like them and they last quite a long time. Longer than Tandy's.

[JoeSnuffie]

I have been using the John James needles for about 2 years now. I really like them and they last quite a long time. Longer than Tandy's.

I started using them a couple months ago and they are superior to the Tandy needles and anything I've gotten at the fabric store.

[cem]

I would love to see how this is done and your results!!!

As would I. I was one of the opinion that it was not possible to dye polyester with acceptable results.

Sorry it’s taken a little while to get back to you been flat out this week trying to get some stuff done.

Anyhow here you go these are just small test pieces I usually do these before dyeing whole sewing strands of about 5ft

From left to right emerald green, purple, mid grey, navy blue, royal blue, orange, mahogany & magenta in 1.2mm size

Some of these colours are available from Abbey but not in the 1.2mm size which I use the most, the original thread colour was white.

Turquoise and gold in 1mm size

These two colours aren't available at all in Tiger, original thread colour was silver grey as I had run out of white but its light enough not to really make a difference.

They might look a bit uneven but they aren't in person, the unevenness is due to my scanner

Now the process to do it isn't hard but can be messy and is more time consuming than dyeing linen.

1. Get a fairly longish plastic container pour the colour dye you want into it.

2. Make large loops of your thread (dependant on length of your container)

3. Place into dye bath and leave a few minutes

4. Remove thread from dye bath place on paper towel and let dry for ten minutes.

5. Wearing disposable gloves unravel the thread and run your fingers down it you will notice that a bit of wax residue comes off this is normal and is what you want to happen, you will notice that the colour isn't even at the moment so with that.

6. Re loop the thread and place back into dye bath for another five minutes then repeat first part of step 4 then leave to dry for at least an hour.

7. Unravel thread and run your fingers down it again to redistribute and seal the wax.

If it is still uneven you may need to do another dip some colours do take better than others this is mostly a trial and error thing so make sure you write notes down if you want to replicate the same colour.

I don't use the thread until the next day just to make sure it's completely dry. Now for what dye or pigment to use, the mahogany shown above is Fiebings oil dye, the navy blue is Fiebings water based the mid grey is Craftsha water based and the rest are Art Spectrum pigment ink which is also water based.

Now for the important part with the water based stuff you need to add a bit of methylated spirits ( US = denatured alcohol) to get the colours to absorb into the thread otherwise it won't work.

The Art Spectrum pigment ink is an Australian brand so I'm not sure if it is available overseas but I expect FW ink would work as well. I plan on doing a test with that but it won't be for a little a while as I have a bit of work to get through first.

I mostly use the Art Spectrum ink as they are more lightfast compared to the leather dyes, I put an example of the gold on a window sill for six months and it has probably dropped only a quarter shade whereas the leather dye was three quarters gone.

I would love to be able to get some of these colours directly from Abbey or Julius Koch and although I use a fair bit of thread it's not enough to get custom colours made up.

Like I said before its not hard just time consuming, if you’re still interested let me know and I will do up and take some photos of some new sewing examples. As I can’t show what I have at the moment as they have personal details on them and I don’t have the clearance to show them at the moment.

Hope this helps if you want to have a go at it yourself

[minimal Oz]

Sorry it’s taken a little while to get back to you been flat out this week trying to get some stuff done.

Anyhow here you go these are just small test pieces I usually do these before dyeing whole sewing strands of about 5ft

Tiger thread dyed 1.2mm.jpg

From left to right emerald green, purple, mid grey, navy blue, royal blue, orange, mahogany & magenta in 1.2mm size

Some of these colours are available from Abbey but not in the 1.2mm size which I use the most, the original thread colour was white.

Tiger thread dyed 1mm.jpg

Turquoise and gold in 1mm size

These two colours aren't available at all in Tiger, original thread colour was silver grey as I had run out of white but its light enough not to really make a difference.

They might look a bit uneven but they aren't in person, the unevenness is due to my scanner

Now the process to do it isn't hard but can be messy and is more time consuming than dyeing linen.

1. Get a fairly longish plastic container pour the colour dye you want into it.

2. Make large loops of your thread (dependant on length of your container)

3. Place into dye bath and leave a few minutes

4. Remove thread from dye bath place on paper towel and let dry for ten minutes.

5. Wearing disposable gloves unravel the thread and run your fingers down it you will notice that a bit of wax residue comes off this is normal and is what you want to happen, you will notice that the colour isn't even at the moment so with that.

6. Re loop the thread and place back into dye bath for another five minutes then repeat first part of step 4 then leave to dry for at least an hour.

7. Unravel thread and run your fingers down it again to redistribute and seal the wax.

If it is still uneven you may need to do another dip some colours do take better than others this is mostly a trial and error thing so make sure you write notes down if you want to replicate the same colour.

I don't use the thread until the next day just to make sure it's completely dry. Now for what dye or pigment to use, the mahogany shown above is Fiebings oil dye, the navy blue is Fiebings water based the mid grey is Craftsha water based and the rest are Art Spectrum pigment ink which is also water based.

Now for the important part with the water based stuff you need to add a bit of methylated spirits ( US = denatured alcohol) to get the colours to absorb into the thread otherwise it won't work.

The Art Spectrum pigment ink is an Australian brand so I'm not sure if it is available overseas but I expect FW ink would work as well. I plan on doing a test with that but it won't be for a little a while as I have a bit of work to get through first.

I mostly use the Art Spectrum ink as they are more lightfast compared to the leather dyes, I put an example of the gold on a window sill for six months and it has probably dropped only a quarter shade whereas the leather dye was three quarters gone.

I would love to be able to get some of these colours directly from Abbey or Julius Koch and although I use a fair bit of thread it's not enough to get custom colours made up.

Like I said before its not hard just time consuming, if you’re still interested let me know and I will do up and take some photos of some new sewing examples. As I can’t show what I have at the moment as they have personal details on them and I don’t have the clearance to show them at the moment.

Hope this helps if you want to have a go at it yourself

these color are beautiful!

I am really curious how to do it! could you please tell us some more about the dye you use and the dyeing process?

[FoamerAce]

Hmm. Dyeing polyester at room temperature goes against what I've read. I wonder if your dyeing the wax.

[cem]

these color are beautiful!

I am really curious how to do it! could you please tell us some more about the dye you use and the dyeing process?

Hi minimal Oz it's set out in points 1-7 of how I do it and underneath that is the dye and pigment I use, you can buy Fiebings and Art Spectrum pigment ink in Australia. Fiebings from Birdsall and any art supply store should have the Art Spectrum pigment ink. The Craftsha grey dye was bought from goodsjapan I only use that as it's a premixed grey dye.

Hmm. Dyeing polyester at room temperature goes against what I've read. I wonder if your dyeing the wax.

No it's not dyeing the wax if it was that it would rub off by the time I got through the 5ft of thread which it doesn't also if you pinch tiger thread together the single threads separate and what I dye looks no different than what the dyed thread from Julius Koch looks like. I believe it works due to the small surface area of the thread I doubt very much that it would work on wider polyester stuff.

[SLudlow]

Just as an update, we just placed another order for about 60 kilometers worth of thread. So, hopefully soon all colors will be represented in the shop.

[Leatherstarter]

Just an FYI. I found a couple of shops on Etsy that sell to the states without hammering you on shipping (from

Canada). They both carry quite a bit of colors, as well as, John James Harness neddles. Just ordered some and it'll take about a week and a half to get.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LionheartCanada

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LeatherWurx

Hope this helps...

[LTC]

hey you should go look up every topic on here that mentions anything about "thread" and post this in all of them just in case someone somewhere may not see all the other ones.

[Leatherstarter]

LTC~

Ya, I've went to about 3 other Threads and did just that (unless that was sarcasm because I did)…haha. Hopefully the info will get out there...

[LTC]

yeah it was sarcasm actually.

there's the search feature and the etsy places you posted have been posted quite a few times by other people in other threads before.

Edited March 28, 2014 by LTC

[SLudlow]

I fully support those who want to buy smaller quantities to go through those with Etsy shops. I know a number of the folks who run them, and they are great craftsmen in their own rights and certainly worthy of your buck!

Now then, on to business. I got an order in this morning from the postmaster, and it contained the following:

0.8 Brown JK21

0.8 Cream JK6

0.8 Havanna Cigar JK77

0.8 Colonial JK79

0.8 Mid Brown JK7

0.8 Orange JK247

0.8 Red JK62

0.8 Blue JK14

0.8 Yellow JK56

1.0 Black JK23

1.0 Brown JK21

1.0 Cream JK6

1.0 Dark Green JK11

1.0 Havanna Cigar JK77

1.0 Beige JK2

1.0 Mid Brown JK7

1.0 Orange JK247

1.0 Red JK62

1.0 White JK1

1.0 Yellow JK56

These are going /firstly/ to the patient folks who have been waiting for nearly a month to get their orders. Customs is a real pain, and half of their orders got caught up in some rickamarole purgatory, and I got fed up enough to hire a customs broker to make sure this last package went through without a hitch. So, when these go up on the shop, there might be some limited availability. I know Colonial Tan in 0.8 is going to probably sell out quickly.

So, expect these to come online at the shop sometime this week. That is of course in addition to the stuff we already have online.