I have been playing around with a new-to-me material this week: bamboo fleece. I first heard about bamboo fleece from Gail at BrightLifeToys. Gail is an awesome customer of mine. She makes and sells toys from many of my patterns in her shop and she sews them all from bamboo fleece that she dyes herself.
I love fleece for sewing stuffed animals. A fleece toy is soft and cuddly and fleece is easy to work wtih and very forgiving of little sewing errors. I wrote some tips here on sewing softies from fleece you'd like a few pointers.
Bamboo fleece is intriguing to me in two ways. First, it's made of natural fibers. Standard fleece is made from polyester fibers whereas bamboo fleece is 70% bamboo/30% cotton. Natural fibers are so nice against the skin, especially against a new baby's skin, so I figured bamboo fleece might super nice for sewing Lovey Dovies.
And second, because it's made of natural fibers, bamboo fleece absorbs dye. The possibility of dyeing fleece was too good to pass up and I ordered a yard of this organic bamboo fleece from Nature's Fabrics. The yard is 60 inches wide which means it's a pretty generous piece. Softies don't generally require much yardage so I knew I'd get a lot of out it. Notice is only comes in white.
I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived because it turns out that bamboo fleece is incredibly soft, much softer than standard polyester fleece. I got super excited to start sewing baby toys with this stuff, but first I really wanted to try dyeing it.
I cut my fleece into a bunch of big pieces and spent an evening at the sink doing some hot water dyeing. Wetting each piece of fabric (it's super absorbent!), boiling water in the teapot, pouring it into the sink, stirring the dye, then putting in the fabric and stirring with a big spoon.
Instant gratification. This material takes dye very, very well. I loved Gail's tie-dyed look, but for this first go-round I wanted to try a more basic technique by just doing some solids.
Here is my pile after it had been cold-water washed in the machine and run through the dryer.
So pretty, right! I love it.
To me it seems a tiny bit more slippery to sew with than the fleece I had been accustomed to, and it has some stretch in both directions, although more against the grain. Neither of these issues presented much of a problem, and they are well-worth dealing with to have natural, dyeable fleece in your hands.
I used the fleece I dyed to make a duck lovey. I took my penguin Lovey Dovey pattern, sewed it up in yellow, and doubled up the beak.
Bamboo fleece is somewhat more expensive than polyester fleece. My half-yard cut was $6.26 versus $4.98 for half-yard of regular fleece at Jo-Ann's (but the fleece from Jo-Ann's is two inches narrower).
Nature's Fabrics has a nice selection of other organic fabrics and I would be interested in trying their cotton velour, too. If you're want to sew a quality toy from a renewable, organic
fiber that you can custom dye, I highly recommend bamboo fleece.
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I've been in touch with the owner of Nature's Fabrics and she has generously offered to give away two yards of their bamboo fleece to one of my readers! This is a great opportunity to experiment with a really terrific material. Leave a comment here to enter and I'll draw a winner on Thursday, November 1, at 10:00 am EST (US residents only).
Thank you!
(I was not compensated in any way for this post. I just enjoyed buying and playing with this new-to-me fabric!)
Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway. Comments are now closed and the winner is #12 Nicky from Kansas City Crafty. Nicky, please send me your email address and I'll have Nature's Fabrics send out your bamboo fleece!
Oooooh those shades of fleece are drool worthy!
Trying out new types of fabric is always so much fun! I’d definitely be interested in trying out bamboo fleece..I love the dyed colors! 🙂
I have been wanting to try out bamboo fleece for just this purpose – so nice to see how well it takes the dye. Great results!
HI, enjoy your blog and have just received the Artful Bird! the bamboo fleece sounds lovely–better than polyester.
I have a new grandchild on the way and would love to try out some bamboo fleece!
Wow! Those colors are amazing! The fleece looks so darn fuzzy soft!
Oh, that looks so yummy to sew with. I would love to win it, as would all of us.
Great test, would love to try this bamboo fleece too :).
I’d love to just try bamboo fleece. Being on an island, it’s tricky to get my hands on the new fabrics. I’ve been recycling cloth for my softies but bamboo fleece sounds ecofriendly.
It looks so luscious, would love to try.
Wow, that looks great!! What did you use to dye the bamboo fleece? I’ve been wanting to make some Lovey Doveys for my little one for Christmas and it would be so fun to have such a great fabric to make them with.
Oh, this looks fantastic. I’d love to feel how soft it is in person, and dying it sounds like fun! Love the duck lovey too.
I would love to try this fleece, as I’ve given up using any plastics (at least attempting it – still use poly thread at times) Also wonder what type of dye you used. Thanks!
That looks like so much fun to work with! Thanks for the giveaway. 🙂
Hi Cynthia,
I use Rit dye to dye the bamboo fleece. Thanks so much and keep in touch!
Abby
Ooh fun! I’m mostly a garment sewer so I’ve used bamboo knits before and they have the most luxurious drape. I’d love to try some bamboo fleece!
Also, have you tried Procion dyes? I’ve found that I get much brighter and crisper colors using them than RIT. Might be fun to try as bright colors work especially well for kids toys!
I haven't tried Procion dyes, but I've read about them. I'd love to try them. Thank you for the suggestion!
Thanks for the opportunity!
Your Lovey Ducky is adorable. I’d be super excited to try using some natural fiber bamboo fleece to make some mini bears for my miniature vignettes. Thank you for the fantastic opportunity! I’ve really been enjoying your blog these days–great work! xo Jennifer
I’ve always been looking for natural fiber fleece! Thank you so much for reviewing Bamboo Fleece! I can’t wait to try it out! I love all your adorable softie patterns!
Those colors came out so well! What dye did you use? I would love to try out this fleece.
I’d like to echo Allison C and ask what dye you used. I’m curious whether the bamboo fleece would be suitable for block printing or if it is too fluffy for that to work.
Doh! Just saw where you said they were RIT dyes!
I used Rit dye for this project. I think the bamboo fleece may be too fuzzy for printing, but would be awesome for dye effects such as shibori.
Thanks so much for this post. I have been trying to find the perfect shade of pumpkin orange fleece and had given up. It never occurred to me to use bamboo fleece and dye it myself. Genius!
Ooh–I’d like to try it. Count me in!
It is such a pretty fleece
that fleece sounds lovely!
I’d love to give bamboo fleece a try! I work with natural dyes, and it would be fun to see what they do on bamboo.
I am on such a fleece kick right now. Must be the change in weather. 🙂
I haven’t heard of bamboo fleece until I stumbled upon your article, but it sounds like a good fabric.
You did a wonderful job dying the fleece. So soft and pretty colors. I am entering the giveaway because now I am curious about bamboo fleece. Thank you, Abby!
It sounds wonderful! I want to try it.
I’ve been making fleece mittens and hats for disadvantaged kids for a collection. I would love to try bamboo fleece and use any scraps for small toys.
umm also I’m so glad I found your site. I’m following you on twitter, pinterest, Facebook and subscribed to your blog.
I have just started working with traditional fleece and would love the opportunity to try this natural fabric for free! Dreaming up soft pinks and blues to dye it!
I love any fabric/clothing with bamboo. I have some socks and mittens knitted with bamboo yarn that are so soft and worth the extra money. I am wanting to try bamboo fleece for diaper inserts since it is so absorbent.
I’d love to us some of this and even attempt to dye it. Sounds wonderful!
It sounds amazing!! I would love to win – thanks for the chance!!
I’ve used batting made from Bamboo and it is very soft to the touch. Thanks for the chance to win some Bamboo Fleece – that would be wonderful!!
I love love love the colors you made from the bamboo fleece. I have been buying and using lots of bamboo fabrics from Nature’s Fabrics, and I just adore them all!
Nature’s fabric is my FAV! Love the colors you choose.
I had no idea there was such a thing as bamboo fleece, I’d love to try some! thanks for the chance!
I love bamboo fabric but never used bamboo fleece before. I would love to try some
I have been reading your blog for a while, and I’ve made several stuffed animals by following your tips for pattern making and design. Thanks.
Oooh that bamboo fleece sounds exciting! I’ve been using Antron fleece lately for making puppets (it’s what most Muppets are covered with), it also takes dye very well (it’s nylon) and is great for hiding seams.
By the way, I just discovered your blog, I love it!! thanks for creating such a wonderful resource!
Hi Abby,
Great find!
I work a lot with fleece as well (primarily JoAnn’s, but some Polartec as well), and would love to try the bamboo type. The dye process looks like fun! Any idea how it wears over time?
Katarina