Buyer Beware!!!!!

I really love to dye fabric!!! It is very time intensive, but the "rush" I get from creating more than makes up for the labor. Today was a perfect day for dyeing---in the garage it was probably 130 degrees, but that is PERFECT for dyeing fabric. I put on some old clothes, raised the garage door, and although it was raining (which brought the humidity up to 500%), I began the process.

Every book I find that gives the procedure for dyeing fabric I usually purchased, so last winter I purchased the "dictionary" of fabric dyeing that contained the "recipe" for over 900 colors. In reading it I got very excited, especially when I saw a "kit" that advertised it contained the dyes to make EVERY recipe in the book! Who wouldn't buy that---right? Well, I did, especially when I saw it offered in the catalog of a person who has a weekly sewing television show that I had watched for years. Surely this person, who has such a personal relationship with sewing/quilting, wouldn't sell something that wasn't really "for real". Anyway, I rushed to my computer and ordered it! In doing so, I saw that it was actually $10 more than where I saw it advertised on another site, but by then I had already ordered it, so again, given my belief and longevity I had with this company, I said "oh well" and waited for the dye to come.

It did, and right away I took out my book and began to go through the recipes to make sure all the dyes were in fact there. Right away I noticed a couple of things. First, the jars of dye were miniature---how could you have enough dye for every color---and a green that was called for wasn't included. No problem, probably a packing error, so I called (about the green). The person I got on the telephone, although not really rude, made it was clear that the problem was mine and not the company's. Finally, she blamed it all on the author of the book, it was her fault "for not being clear" in her instructions. She said she should have said, you could use one or the other green, not both. I pointed out that the recipes clearly said "equal parts of BOTH", but she wasn't impressed and again said the problem was with the author and not the company. To date, I haven't seen a correction or clarification anywhere from the author and the fact that the advertising for the dye kit was misleading, didn't mean anything. I debated about sending it back, but since it was winter and I wasn't dyeing anything, I forgot about it.

Fast forward to today. Now mind you, the advertising for the kit says that it contains dye for every recipe in the book. I intended to dye some more blues and greens and a "rainbow". As soon as I began to mix the dye, it was clear I had been misled again!!! The first jar is the size that you get when you order them by color from two on-line companies. Both companies sell the same amount per jar although the jars are a little different from each other. The second jar is the "largest" jar in the kit (only one); and the others are the sizes of the other colors in the kit. In following the recipe, each jar only had enough dye in them to make that ONE recipe!!!! There is no way you could use the dye in the kit for more than one recipe! The little jars hold about 2-3 T and the larger one about 4-5T, while the largest jar holds 4 oz. (by weight).

What is my grip----if only enough dye is packaged to complete one recipe, then say so! Don't mislead and give the implied impression that all you need (in way of dye) is in these kits!!! I absolutely HATE dishonesty!!!! This kit was $50, I could have purchased at least 10 jars of dye for that price from either of the on-line companies and had enough to make probably almost all of the recipes! I am NEVER going to order from this company again, but will definitely do more investigating. BTW, there was NO fine print on any of the descriptions of this kit that reflected reality.

My suggestion-----do NOT buy dye kits unless you just want to try something out and see how you like it....then buy regular. You will save money!