Now that the weather is warming up, I’m dying to redecorate my deck and patio in bold, fun colors. One of the easiest ways to infuse color into your outdoor decor is to craft up some pillows for your patio furniture. 
With Tulip tie dye, America’s Favorite Tie Dye, you can Tie Dye Your Summer in a flash just by adding water for bold, beautiful color! Here’s how: (more…)
I’m so thrilled to have been featured on the I Love to Create blog as a guest poster!
They sent me a lovely package of goodies from their immense ILoveToCreate.com website a little while ago (chock-full of Tulip-brand and Aleene’s products, fabric dyes, finishes, paints, and embellishments…if you haven’t checked it out for all your crafty needs, or for tutorial ideas and inspiration, please do!! You’re so missing out!!). I’ve used the contents of the package to create a couple tutorials for them that will be featured on their blog in the coming weeks. My first project, a Leopard-Print Infinity Scarf, repurposes the bottom of an old t-shirt and uses a stencil from one of their tie-dyeing kits to create a fancy feline look. Here is the tutorial in full below:
Fashion blogger Carly J. Cais of Chic Steals will be featured in the next few weeks as a guest blogger here on the iLoveToCreate blog! She has created some trendy and fashionable looks and she shows you step by step how to make them! Take it away Carly…
Nothing could be easier than re-purposing the bottom of an old t-shirt as an accessory! Wear as a simple scarf for a pop of pattern at the neck, a lightweight hood, or sew the bottom closed and add a drawstring to use as a pouch for makeup. By using two colors in the leopard print and varying the size of the spots, you get a much more finished, high-end look than by just using the stencil alone.
Materials:
– Tulip Tie-Dye Fashion Kit in Wild Thing (stencil, gloves, Aqua dye, Cobalt Dye)
– white t-shirt
and…
– garbage bags
– paper towels
– cotton swab (not pictured)
– small bowl for paint (not pictured)
– fabric scissors or rotary cutter
How To:
1. Begin by creating the leopard pattern on the t-shirt. Wash the shirt in the washer (do not use fabric softener) and dry in the dryer to remove sizing.
2. Place onto a garbage bag, laid onto a flat surface. Place another garbage bag in-between the fabric layers so the dye does not seep through.
3. Place the leopard stencil from the Tie-Dye Fashion Kit onto the shirt, and cover around the stencil with paper towels to prevent overspray.
4. Put on the gloves in the kit. Mix the Tulip Aqua Tie-Dye according to the kit directions, and spritz onto the fabric using the spray bottle. Be careful to not spray too much; just enough so the stencil shapes are visible (too much and it will seep under the stencil and the pattern won’t be crisp).
5. Remove the stencil; wipe down with a paper towel.
6. Repeat Steps 3) – 5) to cover all the area below the underarms of the t-shirt on the front. Turn the shirt onto the back and repeat.
7. Allow to dry about an hour.
8. Mix the Tulip Cobalt Tye-Dye according to directions, and squirt some dye into a small bowl (not used for food). Dip a cotton swab into the dye and dab it onto the t-shirt, on top of the aqua spots you made with the stencil. (Reference a photo of what a leopard’s spots really look like to help with placement.)
9. Cover with plastic and allow to dry 4-6 hours. Once dry, wash in the washer with a small amount of detergent and water at the hottest suitable for the fabric. Dry in the dryer.
10. Once dry, cut off the top part of the shirt, from side to side right under the sleeves.
And you’re done! Wear the fabric loop as an infinity scarf for a punchy pattern at the neck, or customize further with a little craftery on your sewing machine.
Happy DIY’ing!
xoxox
Carly J. Cais
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Tie-dyed denim is ba-a-aaack this season (sure you probably thought you’d never see the day) but it’s a blotchy, abstract dye that’s all over the runways…and all over celebs and fashionistas in the know. (And what I got knocked for in Challenge #1 in America’s Most Stylish Blogger competition. Whatever! If you haven’t noticed this trend – insert your head back in its hole in the sand.) Whether you embrace it or stay far, far away – using the crumple dye technique on your fabric is fun and virtually hassle-free (compared to some other tie-dye techniques that involve rubber-banding, stirring fabric for 15 minutes continuously etc.).
This is an image from Victoria’s Secret most recent catalog…and you can buy the sweater here but the skirt strangely seems to be unavailable. And I want that skirt.
So I used Tulip Permanent Fabric Dye and a denim miniskirt I found at the thrift store to create an abstract, funky dye-pattern.
The first step was bleaching the skirt to remove the color. This was accomplished by soaking in a hot water & bleach solution (ratio like 8:1 or something like that)…for like 8 hours. Had I used full-strength bleach (or a smaller ratio of water to bleach), the process would have been much quicker, but it also would have caused rusting on the metal embellishments on the skirt (zipper, grommets etc.), weakened the fabric fibers and seams, and even perhaps burned holes in the fabric or given the piece an orange tint. So to be safe I diluted.
Most of the color was removed by this method. Ran it through the wash cycle (with detergent) to get rid of any remaining bleach.
Now it’s time for the dye!
Following the instructions, I created a dyebath of Black fabric dye…and dipped the skirt into it. I then pulled it out quickly, crumpled it on top of a spread-out garbage bag, and spooned dye from the bath onto certain areas of the skirt. Hmm…it didn’t work so well. By giving it that initial dip in the bath, I found that the skirt soaked up a base gray color that wouldn’t show any darker black areas like I had intended. Ohwell. Frustrated, I poured some bleach (undiluted this time) back on the skirt in certain areas. After a few minutes as I watched some areas of the skirt lighten to a muddy brown, I washed the whole thing in cold water, then threw it in the wash cycle of the washing machine (sans detergent this time). And this is what I got:
Definitely not what I was going for. I then wet the skirt, crumpled it up again on another garbage bag, and spooned black dye from the dyebath onto certain areas of the skirt, crumpling as I went. I left it for a short time, covered in garbage bag, then pulled it out and ran cold water through it. Back to the washing machine (no detergent) and into the dryer, and I got this…
The final product: the tie-dyed skirt. I definitely wanted it to be black & gray…but this stone blue/gray/little bit of brown thing is cool, too. You just never know when you’re dying denim and working with bleach!
In reality Tulip One-Step Fashion Dye would make more sense for this project, especially since you’re applying dye directly to the fabric. But I used what I had! Perhaps I’ll try another application to make it more black at some point in the future, but I’m kind of satisfied with what I have now.
Also, if you’d like some different fabric-dyeing projects to try out (just in the nick of time if you’re still stuck on ideas for a Halloween costume!) download the free Fun with Fabric Dye eBook from FaveCrafts.com…This eBook features 28 free fabric dye craft projects organized by 18 different dye techniques, with step-by-step photo instructions. Not only does the eBook include a great variety of stylish clothing craft projects for all ages, but it also features home decorating projects, accessories and holiday projects too.
Definitely try your hand at the DIY tie-dye denim mini…just don’t dip the whole thing in the dye after you’ve bleached it out…crumple and spoon, my friends!
Happy DIY’ing…and Happy Halloween!
xoxox
Carly
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Carly J. Cais I am a DIY’er, designer, sewist, maker, and marketer. Chic Creative Life is where I share what I do, and help others bring their unique style into their own lives.
