Tie Dye experiments #1

My latest tie dyed creation.

When I posted that first blog about tie dying, I had no idea it would be so fun and that people would be so interested in this .... remember?


You can find the other tie dye blogs by hovering over the word "blog" above.  A drop down menu will appear with "blog archive list". Click on that and you will find links to the other tie dye blog posts.

So, for the fun of it, I headed off to the thrift store to see what I could buy for some tie dye experiments.  I bought 5 garments, used 4 different color dye baths and had varying degrees of success.  But, I will wear some of the results.  They aren't half bad.

Today I will show you how I dyed two new garments and tomorrow I will show you the other three.

I decided to use whatever dye I had on hand.

The first garment, a 100% cotton light lavender dress.

The upper stripes will be sewn with a single row of thread, pulled tight with rubber bands over.  The lower section will be partitioned off with a running stitch pulled up in a clean diagonal line, then the fabric below will be crumpled up into a ball with rubber bands.

And I would try to make the finished pieces look good with this new scarf I got for my birthday.

Here is my rough plan. That was a lesson I learned in my first tie dye blog. Some kind of plan is needed before diving in.

I weighed each piece, to know how much I could put in each dye bath.  It's important to follow the instructions on whatever dye you are using.

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After drawing lines on the garment for the different sections, I run a single running stitch to section off the bottom.

And secure it with 5 large rubber bands.

This goes into the purple/fuchsia dye bath for 25 minutes.

The dress gets tied up again, along the second set of lines according to the sketch. This time with 3 stripes up top.

Now it goes into the royal blue dye bath.

I used some blue fabric paint to make sketchy lines that follow the tie dye edges.

I open up the skirt below the stitching and ball up the fabric.

The lines for the upper part of the garment are made with a running stitch, pulled up and then made tighter with a rubber band.

Here is the result after the first dying.

But, after looking at it, I think it needs some paint to define the edges of the color breaks.  See the results above.

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Garment #2, a light lime green skirt made from cotton lawn with lots of stitched down pleats around the hips.

Here I'm making some of the little thread wrapped pinches of fabric.

It goes into the aquamarine dye bath.

I released and opened about a third of the tied thread places.

The plan for this skirt is to make lots of tiny circles by pulling up little pinches of fabric and wrapping with thread ... more circles at the bottom, thinning out towards the top. It will be dyed twice and half the tied places will be let out after the first dye bath,

The skirt is ready for its first dye bath. That's the lining hanging below, untied.

I air dry it completely before removing any of the thread ties.

Then tied up some new places that will preserve the nice teal color, because it will become a completely different color after the next dying.

I have to confess that this skirt drove me to distraction.  It took HOURS!!  I think it took 3 - 4 hours to put in the first set of ties.  Then it took about 1 1/2 hours to remove about a third of them after the first dying. Putting in new ties for the second dying took another hour or so ...  Anyway ...

It went into the royal blue dye bath along with the dress above.

I actually dyed three different things in that royal blue dye and they all came out differently ... fun isn't it?

Then after a good hour taking out all the tied up thread, I can finally press out all those little crinkles flat and can see the results. I think this, also, is a garment I will be happy to wear.  I love these colors.

A good light weight skirt that can pack small! I guess you've figured I'm getting ready for a trip.

Tomorrow I will show you how I dyed three tops.

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