Create Your Own Halloween Fabric Collection

spider

October 23, 2011

Create Your Own Halloween Fabric Collection

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Our friend, the talented Barbara Warholic couldn’t find a set of coordinated Halloween fabrics that she really liked so she decided to make her own. With the help of Rit dye, her sewing machine and permanent fabric markers, she created this colorful Halloween fabric collection. So get ready to make your own fabric and have some fun!

Each piece is cut to a fat quarter size (18”x 22”), which is what quilters like because it’s just the right size for small quilt projects and offers more cutting options. There are typically 5 color-coordinated fabrics in a fat quarter bundle. These fabrics can be used to make a spooky Halloween wall hanging, pillow or table top decoration.

Barbara is a designer, author and pottery-maker, who has recently written a new book, Sewing Pottery by Machine, published by Martingale & Company.

And here's the tutorial...

SUPPLIES:

• Rit Liquid Dye: Black, Golden Yellow, Apple Green, Tangerine, Evening Blue, Cherry Red, and Sunshine Orange

• 1½ Yards White 100% Cotton Broadcloth Fabric

• Large Dyeing Container (4 Qt.)

• Measuring Cup & Measuring Spoons

• Rubber Gloves

• Rubber Band

• Quilter’s Disappearing Ink Pen

• Spool of Black Thread

• Ruler & Gridded Rotary Cutting Mat

• Plastic Plate

• Small Artist’s Paint Brush

• Black Fine-Tip Fabric Marker

• Green Fine-Tip Fabric Marker

• Sewing Machine

• Paper Towels

• Plastic Wrap

• Newspaper

• Plastic Tablecloth

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preparing the Fabric

Launder fabric to remove any finishes that may interfere with the absorption of the dyes. Iron with a steam iron to remove wrinkles. Cut the fabric into six fat quarters. A fat quarter is ¼ yard of fabric that is cut 22” x 18” rather than 44”x 9”. We will only be using 5 of them.

Dyeing the Fat Quarters

Cover your work surface with a plastic tablecloth.

GREEN FABRIC

1. Wearing rubber gloves, shake dye bottles. Then measure 2 Tablespoons Apple Green dye and 1 Tablespoon Golden Yellow dye and pour into large (8-cup) dyeing container. Add 3 cups very hot water (at least 140˚); stir well. Note: If water is not hot enough, heat water in tea kettle or in the microwave.

2. Wet one fat quarter in warm water; squeeze out excess water. Then immerse in the dye bath. Allow the fabric to soak in the dye solution for 10 - 20 minutes, until desired shade is achieved. Stir often making sure the fabric stays covered with the dye.

3. Rinse in cool water until the water runs clear. Wash in warm water with mild

detergent; rinse and hang to dry. Iron to remove wrinkles.

BLACK FABRIC

1. Wearing rubber gloves, shake dye bottle. Then measure 6 Tablespoons Black dye and and pour into large dyeing container. Add 3 cups very hot water (at least 140˚); stir well.

2. Repeat steps 2 - 4 above. Note: When dyeing dark colors like black, double the amount of dye you would normally use.

MARBLED TANGERINE FABRIC

1. Wearing rubber gloves, shake dye bottle. Then measure 4 Tablespoons Tangerine dye and pour into large dyeing container. Add 3 cups very hot water (at least 140˚); stir well.

2. Loosely bunch up the fat quarter and place one rubber band around it, not too tight.

3. Immerse the bunched up fabric in the dye bath and allow it to sit for 30 seconds. This is a quick dip so fabric does not get totally saturated. Turn the bunched fabric several times. You want a marbled effect.

4. Remove it from the dye bath; squeeze out excess dye. Wrap it in plastic wrap and microwave it on high for one minute.

5. Rinse in cool water until the water runs clear. Wash in warm water with mild detergent; rinse and hang to dry. Iron to remove wrinkles.

PURPLE FABRIC WITH BLACK SPIDERS

1. Wearing rubber gloves, shake dye bottles. Then measure 1 Tablespoon plus 1 Teaspoon Evening Blue and 2 Teaspoons Cherry Red and pour into large dyeing

container. Add 3 cups very hot water (at least 140˚); stir well.

2. Wet fabric in warm water; squeeze out excess water. Then immerse fabric in the dye bath. Allow the fabric to soak in the dye for 4-5 minutes. Stir often making sure the fabric stays covered with the dye.

4. Remove the fabric from the dye bath. Wrap the fabric in a piece of plastic wrap. Place it in the microwave and heat it on high for one minute.

5. Rinse in cool water until the water runs clear. Wash in warm water with mild detergent; rinse and hang to dry. Iron to remove wrinkles.

6. Using the disappearing ink pen, draw vertical lines 1” apart across the width of the fat quarter. A rotary cutting board with a 1” grid and ruler work great for this.

7. Machine stitch on the marked lines with black thread and a medium stitch length.

8. Measuring down 1” and using the disappearing ink pen; mark a spot on every other stitched line, going across the fabric. Measure down 2” and on the alternating stitched lines; mark a spot. These spots will be the centers of the spiders’ bodies. Repeat this step across the fabric to the bottom of the fat quarter.

9. Place newspaper underneath your fabric. Using the black fine line permanent marker, draw and fill in a ½” circle at each spot.

10. Add the spider’s head and legs, as shown. Make it so one column of spiders is going up and the next column is going down. Repeat across the fat quarter.

Example:

PUMPKIN FABRIC

Background

1. Wearing rubber gloves, shake dye bottle. Then measure 3 Tablespoons Golden Yellow dye and pour into large dyeing container. Add 3 cups very hot water (at least 140˚); stir well.

2. Wet fabric in warm water; squeeze out excess water. Then immerse fabric in the dye bath and allow fabric to soak for 1 - 2 minutes. Stir often making sure the fabric stays covered with the dye.

4. Remove the fabric from the dye bath; squeeze out excess dye. Wrap the fabric in a piece of plastic wrap. Place it in the microwave and heat it on high for one minute.

5. Rinse in cool water until the water runs clear. Allow fabric to hang dry.

6. On a plastic plate, mix ¼ cup very hot water and 1 Teaspoon Sunshine Orange dye. Dab several patches of the fat quarter in the dye mixture creating a mottled effect. Wrap the fat quarter in plastic wrap and microwave for 1 minute

7. Rinse in cool water until the water runs clear. Wash in warm water with mild detergent; rinse and hang to dry. Iron to remove wrinkles.

Pumpkin Pattern

1. Measure down ½” from the top of the fabric. Using a ruler and the quilter’s disappearing ink pen, mark a spot every 2” across the fabric. Example: Put a dot at ruler

mark 1”, 3”, 5”, 7”……etc. across the fabric.

2. Measure down 2” from the first row of dots. Using the disappearing ink pen, mark a dot at 2”, 4”, 6”, 8”…..etc., alternating between the first row of dots across the fabric.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to the bottom of the fabric.

4. Using a spool of thread as a pattern, center the spool over a dot and draw a circle around each dot using the disappearing ink pen. Do this for each dot on the fabric.

5. Place newspaper underneath your fabric. Using Tangerine dye straight from the bottle, paint in each circle with dye. Allow the dye to air dry for 1 hour.

6. Rinse the fabric in cool water until the water runs clear. Hang to dry; then iron to remove wrinkles.

7. Using the black fine tip permanent marker and the spool, draw a circle around each orange circle to create a “pumpkin.”

8. Draw in the faces and the details of the pumpkins using the black and green fine tip markers. Alternate the faces and the direction of the pumpkins as shown.