Easy Fabric Dyeing - Part I

Fabric dyeing is not that complicated. Back in the '80's and '90's, there used to be a crafting show called Aleene's Creative Living - how many of you remember that show? It was a very informative show that taught all kinds of crafting mediums - there were featured guests who would demonstrate different crafts. One of the crafts featured was on fabric dyeing - so simple. All the products I will be talking about here can be bought at any craft store, or second hand store, even the t shirts.

I do not buy expensive dyes or added chemicals usually used in fabric dyeing. Basically, I dye with fabric paint. Making fabric paint is very easy, you just need 4 things: acrylic paint, textile medium, a clean, empty 20 ounce beverage bottle, and some water.

At the craft store, they sell acrylic craft paints. We've all used them for various crafting projects - here are some samples of brands available. For each color, you will need one bottle.

Toward the bottom or the top of the rack where you got that paint, they also have other things to supplement the paints. One is the textile medium - with this medium, you can turn ANY acrylic craft paint into fabric paint. What the medium does is, it makes the paint pliable - without this medium, whatever you dye will be hard and not wearable or usable. You will need one bottle for each bottle of paint you use.

If you just want fabric paint, you mix equal amounts of the paint and the medium and use as desired. I have "painted" elastic, ribbon, velcro and other items to use in my projects. In this pic, the one on the left is elastic I dyed blue to match the fabric, the center one is organza ribbon I dyed green to match the hand dyed fabric of the cover (see the green in the heart?), the one on the right is velcro for a pocket.

If you want fabric dye, here is what you do. It's equal amounts of paint to textile medium plus water. First, add a little bit of water to your 20 ounce bottle - this is so the paint won't stick to the bottom of your bottle and will be easier to mix. Pour in the paint - get it all in then add some water to the bottle and shake all that paint out. I usually keep adding water and shaking till the bottle is pretty much cleaned out. I do the same for the textile medium. After all the medium is out, I fill up the 20 ounce bottle with water, then shake to mix, and it's ready to go - 20 ounces is a good measurement, anything more will be too liquefied  Even tho I am saying dye, it is really paint, but dye just helps to explain it better.

There are other things you will need depending on what type of dyeing you will be doing. Screens are a must for me, I have a few in different sizes - I can dye right on them and leave my fabric to dry, just rinse any unwanted dye color from the screen so it doesn't transfer to your fabric. A large lid from a plastic storage box is a great surface to dye on - if you don't have one, ask your friends. A towel is very hand - when your fabric is almost dry (not sopping), fold the towel and roll your fabric in it like you would to dry a sweater. PVC piping is great for creating shibori. You can get these at garage sales or second  hand hardware stores for  real cheap or free.

Here some other supplies you will need: large plastic bins or buckets to dye over, a bowl for smaller projects, clamps of different sizes from the hardware store, containers to store your paints - 20 oz. drink containers, empty ketchup or mustard containers are perfect, disposable cups, disposable pipettes, different shaped objects (the acrylic triangles and circles) are useful for doing itajime - small pieces of wood work great as well, hardware clamps - used for clamping the shaped objects to your fabric, Elmer's blue Gel glue - great for creating resists, chop stick for stirring paint, rubber bands for tie dyeing, masking tape, string or strong twine for tie dyeing or pole dyeing. I have also use Pyrex glassware (not pictured) to microwave my fabric (a minute at a time) to set the paint. A lot of the smaller things can be gotten at a garage sales (check the free box) and second hand stores - that's where I got my Pyrex for cheap. Salt (not pictured) is great to use for creating great designs - the salts reacts to the paint and you get awesome prints.

Having a sink nearby is very handy - I don't have a utility sink, so I use a small screen and dye small objects over my sink - elastic or ribbon, I put a small bowl in the sink to catch the paint. It's ok for the paint to go down the drain - just don't let hard globs go down as they may clog your drain, a screen filter helps catch the large globs. For larger items - I have put a large screen over my bath tub with a bowl underneath and dyed fabric. I also dye over the plastic bins.


Here are some recent projects I dyed with fabric paints:

I had some dyed green fabric that I folded and clamped then over dyed with blue - I made this into a Christmas stocking for my daughter. 

I took a t shirt, scrunched it up and held it together with several rubber bands  set it on a screen that was sitting on a large bin. I poured enough crushed ice to cover the shirt (I used a spray bottle to help the ice stick to each other). I then waited for all the ice to melt and got this all over dye. Snow would be perfect to do this with.

For this next shirt - I dyed it a turquoisey green color - the color variation is from using a pipette to apply the dye. I then banded just under the sleeves and dyed with the blue. 

This last shirt was pole dyed - starting from the shoulders, I wrapped the shirt tightly. I then wound strong fishing line around the shirt, trying to make the line even throughout the wrapping. I love the variegated look on this shirt.

See, fabric dyeing is not that hard - really, the hardest thing is to deciding which dyeing method you want to use. Any procedure you read or see about dyeing with dyes or chemicals can be used with fabric paint. Revealing the fabric is the best part - you never know what you'll get, it's always a surprise for me. 

Next week, I will be showing step-by-step how to mix fabric paint and fabric dye. I will even show you  how I clamped and dyed the fabric for that Christmas stocking - read Easy Fabric Dyeing - Part II.

Now, are you ready to try some fabric dyeing?

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

CD Visor Holder

 For Christmas, I got 4 cd's that I had asked for. Altho I like music, I was never one for buying cd's, I always listened to the radio. Only in the last several years have I really indulged and actually bought stuff I like to listen to - kinda sad, I know.

Since my cd collection is now growing, I decided I need one of those cd visor holder thingy - and of course, I didn't want to get one of those generic black holders, I had to design it and sew it! I do have one of those small book type holders where the cd's sit in a sleeve, but it can be a nuisance trying to use it when you're driving (I know you're not suppose to do stuff like that when you're driving, but hey, we all do it).

In doing my research, all of the tutorials had straight pockets. Kind of plain, I thought - so I designed my pockets to be semi-circular. I chose 5 fabrics in red, since my Jeep is red and I alternated the pockets. I just happened to have the red polka dotted seam binding in my stash (from a gsale), so I thought it would be a nice compliment to the mostly red and white fabrics I chose. 

I do have a mirror on the inside of my visor, so I had to compensate for that with the elastic. The interior of my car is gray, so I dyed the elastic gray so that when you're looking at it when the visor is up, the gray elastic would compliment and not contrast the visor.

I used one of these cd holders as a template for my pocket. I just used a plate and cut the semi-circular top.

I measured my visor and figured on 8 pockets, spaced 1 inch apart. 

 Here is a close up of the elastic.

I really lucked out with the binding. I did have solid red, but when I saw the polka dots and how they complimented everything else, I knew that's what I had to use. 

Here is how my visor looks - that white patch is covering a vinyl note from the manufacture telling me something I should know. In trying to cover it up the previous owner messed it up and when I tried to cover it, the glue made things look bad . . .

Well, it doesn't look bad anymore! 

 Action shot!! I love that pop of red against the gray interior!

Here is how it looks when the visor is down - see the complimenting elastic?

Mirror in use.

All in all, I think it came out pretty good - I love the semi-circular pocket design. I might make more of these to sell. The best part of this whole project is that I didn't spend a penny, I had everything on hand - that's the best kind of project to make.

So, what do you think of my new cd visor holder?

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

The Aftermath

20 children arrive at a rather large gate. The gate is flanked with mist, some foliage, and there are many creatures and some other people wandering nearby. The children cannot see past the gate. Many of the children are very confused, some seem lost, many of them are crying, some of them are silent and a few appear stunned. The children do not understand where they are or what happened to them.

The many tears and cries of those children do not go unnoticed. A comforting-sounding voice at the gate began to speak to the children. "Please step forward and come in. We have been waiting for you."

The children, huddled together in the form of a tight-knit herd, do not move. Many of them begin to say they are scared, "that the man with the gun might be in there," they want to be with their mom and dad.

There is a momentary pause. The voice replies, "You are safe now, and your parents will join you here someday, just not today."The children are silent, unsure as to what to do next or who they can trust. They watch as many animals and people walk past and disappear beyond the gates. Time passes, the children seem unable to move forward.

A familiar-looking woman appears and makes her way to the gate. At the mists' edge, the woman pauses, sensing a familiar presence. She turns, and sees the group of children. Dropping to her knee, she faced the children. She gazed and smiles reassuringly at each child, and spoke softly, "It's ok now, let's line up, single-file, and then follow me, just like we do at recess each day, got it?"

Slowly, the children line up in a single line, as they had done each day for many months. The girl at the front of the line began to smile for the first time in as long as she can remember; she turns her head and speaks to the boy behind her, "It's ok now, that's our Principal. She'll stay with us until our parents get here to pick us up, just like she does on rainy days when we wait in front of the school."

They begin to walk as a group, some of the kids fidgeting; others begin to skip and poke each other and giggle, slowly disappearing into the light on the other side of the gate. Decades pass; gradually, one by one, parents, brothers and sisters, and pets all joined the children in the light. The reunion of each child and loved one was the same: an embrace that equaled and counter-balanced the grief of a very dark day, very long ago.

And as with each previous reunion, the principal stood nearby to ensure the last child left with their parents. Weary and relieved, the school Principal turned and finally ventured forth to reunite with her own family, who had been waiting patiently for her; for her loved ones knew she always stayed with the students until they were all safely on their way home. The light beyond the gate began to glow as bright as it ever had been, illuminating the mist, basking those who were beyond the gate in an unparalleled warmth.

(Dedicated to all of the teachers, school support staff, and para-educators everywhere. Thank you for taking care of and watching over our children. We need to make our society safe for everyone.)

**This was written by Paul Morrison, my husband Jim found this on Craigslist and showed it to me, and I thought this was very nicely written. I have asked Paul for his permission to post this as I feel this should be read by all for comfort and peace after the devastating tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. This really touches me because I have always wanted to be a teacher or a para-educator, but life has led me down a different path. I wish peace and healing for all the families and those involved. Thank you Paul!** 

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

Good Bye Summer

Good bye Summer, thanks for visiting. You always bring your warm personality and a sunny disposition when you come - I always look forward to our annual visits. I’m sorry to see you go but I understand you must. I will miss you while you’re gone, but look forward to another visit next year. 

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

Makin' N Bakin'

Today I spent the entire day in the kitchen making and baking stuff. Here is what I made:

Pumpkin Bread for my breakfast. I've been enjoying this recipe for a while now and one thick slice with my tea is my breakfast. I even made strawberry butter that I schmear on it - yummy!

Chocolate sauce for Jim's ice cream dessert. This is a new recipe I'm trying. I've tried others in the past and they all got the boot. I'm hoping this one will work, because I'm not very fond of the store bought ones.

Rice Crispies Chunks - I made these out of necessity. In the past, Jim liked Barbara's Brown Rice Cereal. I recently bought 2 boxes because they were on sale and he didn't like it - says it's too dry. I even frosted them, but he didn't like it. So, not one to waste, I made rice crispies chunks. These are for Jim to take to work.

Individual plum tart - these plums look like cherry tomatoes, but they are tiny plums with a small pit in the middle. I got them from a friend and I decided to make a tart. I halved this crust recipe as I only need crust for 2 individual tart pans, and I made this pastry cream. Don't the plums in the tart look like egg yolks?  **Update** We shared one tart, I made coconut whipped cream for a topping and this was delicious!

Almond Macaroons - I LOVE these, they are the perfect 2 bite snack for me in the evenings when I want something sweet. I make the almond macaroon recipe from this book, and it has only 6 ingredients - so easy. I have taken these little tasty gems and made them even tastier - I have coated them in dark chocolate, and most recently, I made a fruit cream cheese filling. I just took a little Toffuti  and mixed it with a small amount of honey and vanilla extract, then I added some small bits of cut fruit. I even made one flavor by mixing a small amount of grape jelly with the Toffuti.

My husband's (Jim's) deodorant - the only nonfood item from the bunch. He said the bigger container is to cumbersome for him, so melted a little bit of it down and put it in a smaller container.





So this is what I did today - when Jim came home and saw the bounty on the table, he said, "Boy, you've been busy." I started just after 12pm and finished around 4pm. I sure am tired from being on my feet, but it was nice to get stuff done. Now maybe tomorrow, I can get back to sewing.

What kinds of things have you been makin' and bakin'?

Thanks for reading!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!