Thursday, June 16, 2016

Tie Dye for Fourth of July!



First Batch of Tie Dyed Clothing


Like these little outfits, this post is short and sweet. It was on my June plan since I bought the clothing, and needed to be done before the kids grew out of them. Oh, yes, that has happened to me before!

I have done tie dyed fabrics before, and shown you the process, but never clothing. There are lots of babies in the family right now--remember all the quilts, and the Fourth of July is a very big deal in our little town. We host one of two fireworks here, and there is a good, old-fashioned parade. Gnadenhutten, Ohio is Smalltown, USA in every respect.


 I thought I should help out the kiddies in showing their stars and stripes--and hearts.



Little boys should not be forgotten, and I even snuck some purple into the spiral onesie on the right.


A toddler girl and toddler boy will be looking forward to catching candy during the parade, and will be well seen.



One of my own daughters was slightly reluctant when I said I would make one for her...until she saw it. Then a sister decided she should have one, too. It's nice when your older kids think your projects are still pretty cool!


And me, too! 
No more last minute scramble for a 
red shirt this year.

Good Ideas to Share About Tie Dye

This was my first experiment in garment tie dye so it was all about learning. I watched many YouTube videos, and also those from the Dharma Trading Co. website. I presoaked all the clothing before wrapping and rubber banding. Procion MX dyes were applied with nozzle tipped bottles. The resting time for the fabric was 6 hours, and I lightly covered them in used plastic grocery sacks. You may get a deeper color if you wait 24 hours before rinsing, or use a stronger dye solution. These were for little kids and babies so I wanted a muted palette.

1. The shirt I liked best was the v-neck for my daughter. The fabric was a thinner, stretchy knit from Walmart, and easy to make tiny tucks with. 

2. I found a difference in using thinner rubber bands vs. thicker ones. I preferred the look that the thinner ones produced when used on the baby garments, but like the larger with the adult's shirts. The proportion seemed better.

3. The little leggings were rubber banded together as one, tops to bottoms. They absorbed a lot less dye than expected. I would do all pieces individually the next time to have better control of where the dye is going, and how much I am applying.

4. One little heart got a speck of blue in the middle. There was not a thing I could do. When it hits the fabric, it's on there. I learned to cover important red parts with a little plastic until the rest of the piece was covered in dye because it will splatter while applying it. Think of putting mustard on a hot dog, though dye is liquid. Not always, but it can be messy!

There was a quick trip to town to gather some more white, cotton rich pieces, and another session is already getting planned out. This time I have a much better idea of what to expect, and how to lay everything out. Believe it or not, organization can be a make or break part of your process, and is worth considering. But until then, I think we'll just plan out where to sit at the parade this year. The Fourth will be here before we know it.

Come on, Doxie girls.
Cross this June project off the list.



9 comments:

Angie in SoCal said...

Wow, they do look like fireworks to me. Just right for the Fourth.

Bobbi said...

This looks like so much fun! I love that you included the onesies for the baby.

Tu-Na Quilts said...

Visions of girl scout days just popped into my head. I was the leader of my daughter's troop (isn't that what moms are supposed to be) and the girls tie dyed shirts for the 4th of July. They also used fabric paint and masking tape on other shirts to make stars and stripes. Then we all marched in the parade. They were 6th graders. Another year and they wouldn't have wanted to do that. Question for you: I won some fabric last summer on the new blogger summer hop and was forewarned by someone that it bleeds. I've been soaking it and can't get the reds and blues to stop. If I add soda ash to the water, would it help set the color? Any other suggestions? Karen, kthurn at bektel dot com https://tunaquilts.wordpress.com/

Sarah @ Georgia Girl Quilts said...

These look fantastic! Very cool; and perfect for the 4th of July!

arabesque scissors said...

What an awesome project! I love them all...very unique x

France Nadeau ❅ inspiration imagination creation said...

They certainly grow fast!
It's amazing what you do with your dyes. Those clothes are pretty with the circles, flowers and even a heart. One of a kind.
Thank you for participating to my Fabric, Thread and Yarn link party. Have a good weekend!

Kate said...

Very fun shirts for the 4th! They all look terrific.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

how fun!!!

Julie said...

Karen, I've been looking this up, and I still don't have a good answer. It's loose dye that's leftover, and the logical part of me says maybe, but we don't know 'what kind' of dye they used. Washing it should be the way to remove those loose particles that didn't bind. (Thankfully, the dye I use doesn't do this.) Different dyes use different mordants to set them. Alum, salt, soda ash, etc. are all mordants, and I've heard of all working to help keep fabrics from bleeding. You could try any of them. I know the fabric you're talking about, and it did bleed a lot. I wound up getting rid of what was left of mine. I didn't want to take the chance.