Thursday Tip with Hali - What does "yarn dyed" mean?

Thursday Tip // What does “yarn dyed” mean?

ID: a rolled out piece of our Japanese yarn dyed flannel twill in green on a white background. It has red and beige stripes in a basic plaid pattern.

Colourful fabrics are produced in a myriad of ways; from traditional piece dyeing to yarn dyeing, block printing and batik to name a few. Some of our favourite fabrics in the shop are yarn-dyed and we love them for their unique variation, beautiful drape and soft hand feel. You may be wondering what yarn dyed fabrics are and how they differ from other types of dyed fabrics and you wouldn’t be alone!

In general, fabric dyeing occurs in the fibre, yarn or fabric stage of production. The fibres, yarns or fabric is placed in a dye bath with a large amount of water and is heated to the desired temperature to make sure the fabric, including each fibre and yarn, is fully saturated with the dye colour.

In “piece dyeing”, undyed, untreated yarns are woven or knitted together to create the fabric and then the whole piece of fabric is placed in the dye bath. This process allows for more consistent colour saturation throughout different dye lots as many pieces can be dyed simultaneously. Piece dying is commonly used for solid, uniform shades as you will find in our selection of Aero Finished Linen and Sandwashed Cotton Crepe.

In the “yarn dyeing” process, yarns are wound onto bobbins and then dyed separately in a dye bath with pressure and heat applied to saturate the bobbin in colour. As the dye saturates the yarns on the bobbin, the exterior yarns receive the most dye and the interior yarns on the bobbin are slightly less saturated. This creates that unique variation in yarn-dyed fabrics that we love! The bobbins are then used along with yarns of other colours to produce a fabric by weaving or knitting the yarns together to achieve the desired pattern or motif.

Printed fabrics are produced after the fabric has been woven or knitted. A thickener must be applied to the surface of the fabric and then dye is placed in concentrated areas to produce a design. Printed fabrics can be much more intricately designed as the motifs themselves are not restricted by the number of yarns or the weave of the fabric. Because the dye is placed on top of the thickener it is subject to bleeding and additional steps must be taken to steam or cure the fabric to permanently set the colour. As a result of these many processes the final printed fabric can tend to feel heavy and stiff in comparison to yarn dyed fabrics and will typically sell at a higher price point due to the labour intensive dyeing process.

For striped, plaid, checkered and jacquard fabrics, yarn dyeing is the preferred method to achieve a specific design that is easy to cut on grain. Yarn dyeing is also the best quality with little to no colour bleed compared to printed fabric. Yarn dyed fabrics are also longer lasting as the dye protects them from light exposure, making them also the preferred choice for upholstery and other indoor/outdoor home decor applications.

Since printed fabrics are only dyed on one side of the fabric and sometimes in localized areas they are prone to fading and discolouration over time due to light exposure or abrasion.

If you want to see what all the fuss is about, check out our new Japanese Yarn Dyed Flannel Twills here! We also have a gorgeous selection of yarn dyed linens that will take you through all seasons.

We would love to see what you make with our fabrics! Feel free to tag us on the good ole’ IG so we can cheer you on.