Message: Hi! I'm a school psychologist at a K-8th grade school. I am fixing up a corner of a work room to do individual counseling. A local motel donated 10 white sheets to us. I want to tie dye them and then use them as partial partitions (from the ceiling to the room divider--- approximately 2 feet in length and 13 ft in width for 2 sides). Anyway, I liked the idea of doing vertical stripes; I also need to incorporate yellow into the design because that's the color of the drain board surrounding the sink. I am concerned that this idea of mine might turn out to be rather expensive. I also have no clue how much dye to bye for this project. What do you suggest? Thanks.

It is important to mail-order the dye from an inexpensive source, and to use very concentrated dye. All purpose dye, such as Rit, costs a lot, using a $2-$3 box for just one yard of fabric, but fiber reactive dyes, which are much easier to use and come in prettier colors, are much less expensive per yard.

Two ounces of Procion MX type dye will color approximately 14 yards of fabric. A full-size sheet is about 54 by 75 inches, or 3.1 yards, so you'll need a little over six ounces of dye, total, for your ten sheets. Look at the colors and prices at http://www.prochemical.com/catalog/mx.htm . A "Cool Dye Sampler" dye kit would contain 8 ounces of dye and cost $10 plus perhaps $6 shipping. Not bad at all, considering that all of the ingredients you need are included. Or consider the Tie-dye kit, also on http://www.prochemical.com/catalog/mxkits.htm , for $15. As you can see, this is far more economical than using All Purpose dye from the local store, even with shipping added in. It would probably be best to buy a kit and add a jar or two of your favorite colors of PRO MX dye in addition. It's also good to try tie-dyeing a t-shirt or something first, to make sure you understand the recipe, before you try your large scale dyeing session