Today I threw a baby shower with a twist for my daughter-in-law Betsy: she invited her girlfriends and we tie-dyed onesies, bibs and burp cloths. We even did t-shirts for Daddy and Mommy. What a blast!
The original idea came from Kathie Boucher with inspiration from Laura Krasinski (both friends from the Milwaukee Art Quilters). I purchased tie-dye kits from Joann Fabrics. Grandpa Mike was kind enough to make room in his barn. We covered the floor and tables with plastic and then the fun began.
Above center is Betsy and my granddaughter to be 🙂
Artists come in all sizes.
The girls did a great job, but they didn’t get to see the finished product yet (it’s all still damp and under plastic).
After everyone left I decided it was time to try my hand at snow dyeing. So I mixed up a few new bottles of dye, removed my old, stained sweatshirt, grabbed a few pair of bamboo socks for the grandkids in Washington State and phase II began.
1. I misted everything with water and bunched it in the bottom of 2 bins.
2. Grandpa shoveled the bins full of snow.
3. I patted down the snow and “made snow cones” (Annabelle is watching and wondering what I’m doing).
Theoretically the dye melts into the fabric and wonderful designs occur. So here’s the before:
Next week I’ll post the pictures of all the “afters”!
Have you had any group dyeing adventures?
Johanna says
Chris,
Nice dyeing! Next time you have a chance to snow dye, elevate the fabric and snow on top of the bin with an old oven rack or old cookie rack if it is big enough. That way, as the snow melts, your fabric doesn’t sit in the melted “mud” of colors while the soda ash does its thing. Nice job.
Johanna Fritz
Brenda Wathier says
Can’t wait to see the finished products. Looks like a lot of fun – but guess we won’t do too much “snow” dyeing here in FL (although it did get quite chilly last night-down to 40).
Donna says
That looks like fun!!! When we had birthday sleep-overs for Cindy (my oldest), we always did some sort of craft. We stenciled on little “keepsake” boxes, fabric painting on sweatshirts, etc. This would have been a great project to do! Too bad Cindy isn’t having these kind of parties anymore!
Tie Dyed Shop says
A lot of items tied quite nicely. Looking forward to seeing the “after” pictures.