How do you choose a hand dyed fabric for your piece?? tips?

[quirkyk]

Ok...so I've seen these beautiful pieces of fabric online that well my local stores don't have...so how on earth do you decide which ones to use....do you just guess??? I can't imagine that! I found a thing online that was called a fabric viewer but I can't actually view anything...I opened it in firefox and explorer and neither one would show the picture I uploaded..any ideas anyone?

[coffee_freak]

http://www.stitching.jekdesign.com/FabricChoices.html

did you try this site?

I don't think i've ever used colored fabbie instead of the pale blue and pale pink aida comes in..
nothing fancy.

money hasn't allowed me to splurge on fabrics..yet..lol

[quirkyk]

http://www.stitching.jekdesign.com/FabricChoices.html

did you try this site?

I don't think i've ever used colored fabbie instead of the pale blue and pale pink aida comes in..
nothing fancy.

money hasn't allowed me to splurge on fabrics..yet..lol

Yep...that is where I went and couldn't get it to read my pictures

[quirkyk]

I've even tried to use .jpg .bmp .gif .tiff and .png and can't get any of them to load!

[Rose]

I have never used any kind of veiw finder what I do is look at the pattern and ask myself what affect do I want from this pattern, do I want it to look old? Do I want it to have a background that looks like I am peeking out a window? Do I want all of the focus to be on the actual stitching? Then I look at the colors in the pattern, is there a soft shade I want to enhance? Will I be framing or will I be stitching it into a project? The questions go on and on. Then the choice is made. And really it can be a guess but only after many option are looked at.

And finally if is a personal choice, what looks good to you may not inspire some one else.

[quirkyk]

Even trying to take all that into account...I just don't have the guts to do that online...I did find a small shop about an hour away so I may give them a call and see if they carry any kind of hand-dyed fabrics to see if it worth the trip there...Thanks for all your ideas...and great things to look for Rose...there were a few I hadn't thought of so I will def. be giving this more thought! There goes that gotta have instant gratification trait coming through! And you know..I just never pick a craft where that is possible...you'd think by now I'd have gotten rid of that bad habit!

[Mabel Figworthy]

Sometimes you may find that if you acquire a piece in a colour (or colour combination) which you wouldn't normally use, it'll almost "tell" you what would look good on it. Every fabric has the right design for it somewhere, even if you have to make it yourself (though I frankly despair of that bit of Prairie Green jobelan I've got lurking in my "I'm sure someone else would make better use of this" box)

[lacemaker2004]

Hi,
http://www.stitching.jekdesign.com/FabricChoices.html

I've uploaded pictures before from my desktop but something seems to be up with the website. It's not taking uploads. It was last updated in Dec 07 so not sure what is happening. Hope it's not "going away".

My suggestion would be to open a small window of the piece you are interested in and then overlay it on the fabric viewer, selecting different fabrics as you go. I've used alot of hand dyeds and the fabric viewer is really pretty good in giving you an impression of what will work. You do need to remember that any handdyed will be slightly different that what you see in a picture since it is hand made so each piece is individual. The color intensity also differs depending on the fabric type choice. Linen seems to take the color the best. Lastly, when I've been 90% sure what I want but can't see it in person, I've ask the lady at the shop her opinion. Several of them have picked some of the main colors and overlayed it on the fabric as a last check. Unfortunately, the hand dyeds are expensive and so individual, few shops carry a good selection so you are kind of left in the 95% sure until you receive it.

Right now I'm having a piece painted for me to use for Mirabilia's Forest Goddess. We've been emailing info back and forth, I should have it the fabric sometime next week.