Tie Dying is easier than I thought with tulip one step dye! How to make a tie dye 'V' pattern by isewcute!

This is the third tutorial in my short series of 'how to tie dye'...so if you're new to this type of craft, please start with the first tutorial on how to make a spiral pattern. It shows how I set up my workstation outside as well as lists all the items you need to create fun tie dye shirts!

In all 3 tutorials...you'll learn how to do all of these shirt patterns shown here!

This tutorial shows how I made a 'V' tie dye pattern using tulip brand one step dye for tie dying.

First, prepare your shirt in the soda ash & water mix & let it set for about 20 min...following the manufacturers instructions. Then wring out your shirt & lay it flat on your protected work area...smoothing out the wrinkles.

Next, you fold your shirt in half lengthwise...as shown here...lining up the shoulder seams.

Then take a pencil (I used a basic #2 pencil to make my pattern) ...draw a curve line from the shoulder down to the middle of the shirt...or wherever you want your 'V' pattern to end.

Next, you begin to make little 'accordian' folds in your fabric while keeping your pencil line as straight as possible...same step as on making the 'heart' pattern.


Then you wrap a rubber band around the shirt over the top of the pencil line. You can add as many rubberbands as you like for as many color breaks as you desire.

Add your colors by either dying in between the rubberbands...or overlapping the dye so the colors run together ...to blend them more. On this shirt I used a limited color palette of blue, turquoise, and green.

On this one I used many colors starting with a dab of black at the collar, then blue, more black, pink, fuschia, purple, black, blue, yellow, pink, fuschia, purple, & black. I left the bottom end of the shirt loose to let the colors bleed together more.

After your colors are added...place the dyed shirt in a plastic bag so the dye can really bond with the fabric for a few hours. I let them sit overnight.

When the dye is set...rinse your shirt, remove the bands, then rinse again until the water is clear. Launder your shirt with a little mild detergent in a cold water setting, dry, wear & love that you made it yourself!

I hope you enjoyed this series of 'how to' tutorials! For more great craft ideas check out:

http://www.craftster.org/ ...a wonderful handmade community featuring crafts of all kinds

http://www.ilovetocreate.com/ ...where I first got the crafting bug to work on these great tie dye creations!

:o)

Tie Dying is easier than I thought with tulip one step dye! How to make a heart pattern by isewcute!

You're not going to believe how easy it is to do this tie dye pattern! Isn't it cute? This one is going to my new niece....yay! I'm an aunt 'again'.

Follow the instructions on getting ready to tie dye in my first tutorial 'how to make a spiral'

Soak your shirt in the soda ash & water mixture as per the instructions on your brand....I used tulip brand & tulip one-step dyes...which can be found at your local craft shop.

Wring out your shirt & then spread it out on your protected work area...smoothing out all the wrinkles.


Fold your shirt in half lengthwise...lining up the shoulder seams like this...
& then draw 'half a heart' with your pencil.
(I just used a reg. #2 pencil...nothing fancy...it's not permanent & will wash out)


Then to make the pattern you start to fold your shirt like an accordian...making sure to keep the pencil line fairly straight...

Once your shirt is completely folded...slip a rubber band onto the end...covering up the pencil line. You can add as many rubber bands behind that one for as many color changes as you would like defined.

For my example I selected 3 colors: pink, fuschia or red, & purple ...and added the color in between the rubberbands so that the colors would not bleed together too much. If you overlap the colors...your results will have less white & more color blending.

When the dye was added I put the shirt in a plastic bag...let it sit for a few hours to set the color really well & then rinsed the shirt...removed the bands...rinsed again until water was clear. Laundered in cold water with only a bit of mild detergent & dried!

I can't wait to send this to a sweet babygirl!

Have fun & don't be afraid of experimenting! Remember that crafting is supposed to be fun!

Next pattern in this series of 3 tie dye tutorials will be 'how to do a 'v' pattern'

:o)

Tie Dying is easier than I thought with tulip one step dye! How to make a spiral pattern by isewcute!

I tried to make some tie dye shirts years ago...but it was a total flop. The dye wasn't bright & my technique was non-existant. I thought I'd never do it again....ever....until I recently followed a link on twitter from ilovetocreate about how to tie dye shirts using tulip one step dyes. If it wasn't for the video...I'd never have tried tie dying again...the memories were too painful and I & doing a quick search on youtube ...showing various patterns you can create!

This is my first attempt 'again' at tie dying...and if you'd like to try, I'll show you 3 patterns in the next 3 blog posts...so here's what you need to get started:

*a tulip tie dye kit...comes with rubberbands, a 'how to' booklet, & plastic gloves ( I recommend the yellow, turquoise, & fuschia colors...because they gave me the brightest results rather than blue or red...which looked dull by comparison)

*tulip 'soda ash'...you soak your items in this powder/water mix to help the dye bond better with the fabric

*a bucket for soaking the shirts in...I used a recycled kitty litter container (yay for recycling!)

*a big spoon for stirring soda ash & water

*rubber gloves...I know some come in the kit...but mine fell apart...so I got some latex 'cosmetic gloves'

*plastic tablecloth or sheet of plastic to protect your work area...I taped the corners down to keep it from blowing outside

*paper towels or rag for clean up

*plastic bags
*a big fork...for one of the techniques

*a pencil for the other 2 techniques

I chose to work outside...I'm too messy to attempt this indoors...and the bonus was I could just hose off the table in between items...then wipe with a paper towel to have a nice clean work surface for the next shirt!

Soak your shirt in a mixture of soda ash...following package directions...I used the tulip brand...mixed a gallon & let them soak for about 20 min. Wring out shirt & then spread it out on your work area...smoothing out all the wrinkles.

Grab your big fork & place it where you want the 'center' of your spiral to be located...

...then you start to twist the fork as if your twisting spaghetti! :o) So fun!

Once you have your spiral...take a rubberband & pull it over your spiral...dividing it into 2 equal halves...then add another one perpindicular to it to make a 'cross' ...then add 2 more rubberbands in between...divinding your spiral into pie shapes. Doesn't have to look 'perfect'...see?

Now you can add your color! Fill in between the rubberbands if you don't want the colors to blend too much...or bleed one color into the next as you go...and the various colors will mix right before your eyes! Remember...yellow & turquoise will make green...turquoise & fuschia will make purple...fuschia & yellow make orange... it's up to you what colors you'd like next to each other. I like them all personally! :o)

When you have side one colored...flip it over & do the same on the other side!

Next pop your shirt into a plastic bag & let it sit for a few hours to let the dye really soak in for the brightest results! (I left mine overnight...because I got a late start on this)

After dye is set...rinse out your shirt until the water runs clear & remove the rubber bands. Finally wash your shirt with a little mild detergent, dry, & wear with pride that you did it yourself!

*Next blog post...how to tie dye a heart pattern!

:o)

The Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer... take time to enjoy life's little things...

On this afternoon last week I just set everything aside to play with my kiddos without guilt of not doing something else instead.

No work, no computer, no tv...just play outside in the summer breeze! I relished every moment too. Maybe because they played so well together, maybe it was the weather, or perhaps it was just being content...living in the moment...as if it was never going to end.
We played ...running through the spray from the garden hose, wading in the pool, kicking a big ball around, & resting in between on the lounge chairs.
Afterwards I treated us to chocolate ice cream & it was so hot out we could hardly eat it fast enough!

Summer breeze, well it makes me feel fine blowing through the jasmine in my mind....

:o)

Embroidery floss porn... if you embroider...you understand where I'm coming from...

Just trying to get my crafty self organized somewhat...mainly because I'm having a hard time finding what I need when I need it. This is chaos...the 'before shot'.It's such a waste of money going out to get something I think I need for a project...and really gets my feathers ruffled to find a week later it was right there in my 'stash'...especially in this economy.
So here I am...hoping to motivate my fellow stitchers & crafters in whatever craft you may do to organize a little.
This is the 'after shot' ...and yes, it took forever...but I did a little at a time over the past few months. My hands would be killing if I'd wound all this at once!

I have such a great calm feeling seeing everything in order.... not that I'll be able to keep it that way...but living in the moment, right here, right now...& feeling so feng shui!

:o)

Discovery Through Play... Drawing with Light

When you look around you, think of all the normal everyday items we take for granted that seem magical to kids....remote controls, phones, garage door openers, and of course ...anything that glows!

We have a hard time keeping a working flashlight around ...because the kiddos will run off with it & leave it on somewhere in a closet or under a bed until the batteries are dead.

The other day I let my kids play in the darkened hallway with something that glows...& took pictures to show them their 'drawings with light'.

If you can set your camera to a slower shutter speed...or just turn off the flash...then you can do this too! Just give your peanut a flashlight...or anything glowy & have them dance or wave their arms about & see the light trails & patterns that they create! It's a lot of fun for them to do ...and a lot of fun for them to see the pictures afterwards!

:o)

Take Time Everyday to Explore Books with Your Kids

I've found that the time I spend reading books to my kids & taking them to the library has been excellent quality time. These quiet times have really helped to nurture their imaginations & creativity & love of books...as well as being a great way to wind down after a hectic day!

Sometimes I read to them, sometimes we just sit and look at the gorgeous illustrations, and sometimes they attempt to read to me...but since they cannot really read yet, they make up stories to go along with the pictures & we have the cutest conversations!

A book to a preschooler is like a key that can unlock all sorts of goodies going through a child's mind!

Just this past weekend I had a lovely talk with my daughter after reading, "Guess How Much I Love You." She pointed out the moon to me and announced that the moon is too high up in the sky and that she cannot reach it. I asked her if she could reach it by standing on a chair & she shook her head no. Then she thought for a second & said, "I know!" ...holding up her little finger and raising an eyebrow like she'd just come up with the best solution ever... "We could build stairs!"

Please take some time to sit down with your kids & read...because who knows what they will think of next & you'll be glad you did! If you have some great books to recommend to us that your kids love...we would be so glad for you to share them with us!

Here are just a few books we really love:

The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown...and we prefer the one illustrated by the Provensens
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney ...illustrated by Anita Jeram
The Snowbelly Family Of Chillyville Inn by Cheryl Hawkinsons
The Cat in The Hat by Dr. Seuss
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
THE POLAR EXPRESS by Chris Van Allsburg (my boy is into trains...so this is naturally a favorite)

Turbo Heather...extreme radio controlled southern belles!!!

Funniest toy commercial ever!

Bradley Dolls have never been this rad! Just click picture to view video!

You'll be glad you did!

:o)