Tuesday, March 27, 2012

fabric dye and paint

I dyed my first onesies when I was pregnant with the small boy. It took me quite awhile to work up the courage to try it, but it was much easier then I had anticipated. Dana, over at Made, has a fantastic tutorial for fabric dyeing that I highly recommend. When I dyed the onesies, I used a bucket filled with hot water and Rit liquid dye. I stirred the mix every 10-15 minutes for an hour, rinsed the garments in the sink until no more color came out, and then washed everything in the washing machine. It was very simple, not nearly the messy monster that I had expected.

My neighbor will become a grandmother for the first time next month, and so I wanted to make something for her new grandson. I took some of the onesies that I had previously dyed and added a little paint.

This was the result:


I love stronger colors on baby boys, and the orange and blue dye turned out very well. It makes a simple white onesie look less like an undershirt.

On the blue shirt I used a moon stencil and silver glitter paint.

And for the orange shirt I made an iron-on stencil out of freezer paper. (The shiny side of freezer paper will adhere to clothing when you iron it.  Then, when you have finished painting and your design has dried, you can peel the stencil right off! There is a more complete tutorial by Dana here at Made)


For both shirts, I used a stamp set to make the lettering.


Because I had already dyed the shirts, the whole project took less then 30 minutes. This is perfect when you are trying to sneak in crafts while a certain small boy is seeping.

1 comment:

  1. This is so cool! You always blow me away with your craftiness. Let's get together soon, I need to see how that little boy has grown!

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