More News from the Craft & Hobby Show

Lorine Mason, designer and author of many how-to books, has just written Making Jewelry with T-Shirt Yarn, published by Design Originals (www.d-originals.com). Look for her book under new releases. Lorine makes T-shirt yarn by cutting T-shirts into narrow strips and then dyeing them with Rit.  If you prefer, T-shirt yarn can also be purchased.  In either case the instructions are the same for dyeing.  Make bundles with the T-shirt yarn strips, tie them together and wet the strips. Then mix up 1 ounce of Rit liquid dye with 1 ounce of hot water and 1 teaspoon salt; mix well and pour into a squirt bottle.  Apply several colors of Rit dye to the yarn, then wrap with plastic and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes. It’s so easy and Lorine has achieved the most amazing colors!

To turn the dyed strips into jewelry, Lorine spirals and glues the yarn into circles and teardrops to make the most unique, fun necklaces, headbands, bracelets and earrings, like these.  Check out Lorine’s blog at www.lorinemason.com/blog.

Hemptique®– Makers of Hemp Ropes

We’re always looking for something new to dye! Take a close look at these most amazing hanks of hemp rope.  When we first spotted them, we all thought how easily they could be dyed and spiraled around vases and bottles for terrific home décor accents.  Hemptique has more than just ropes, visit their website (www.hemptique.net) and you’ll find well-made hemp products, including Baker’s Twine, Hemp Webbing, Hemp Paper and Hemp apparel.

Pentaloo™Paper Flowers & Petals

Just as we turned the corner, we discovered a pink petal floor! Yes, it was as though someone had carpeted the entire floor in multiple shades of pink floral petals.  These petals are made of 100% cotton so you know they can be dyed any color – what an exciting thought!

And, Petaloo offers a line of Color Me Crazy white paper flowers, too!  Can’t wait to give those a try with splashes of dye!  Stop by their website for more information.  (www.petaloo.com)

Dunroven House

Here we found a line of fine quality kitchen towels, aprons, napkins, pillow cases, embroidery blanks and homespun fabrics.  Many are available in white, which is just what we need!  So get ready, we’re going to be doing some experimenting dye stenciling and batik-like effects! Click here to visit their website (www.dunrovenhouse.com).

Blumenthal Lansing – the Button Folks!

We all love to dye buttons!  Here are some wall art ideas created with buttons.  While these buttons have been professionally dyed, it would be easy to dye your own!  Blumenthal’s Favorite Findings Big Bag of White Buttons (#2011) are nylon based and take the dye beautifully!  We often use them in our Rit craft projects. Visit their website for more ideas.  www.blumenthallansing.com

Tomorrow, we’ll showcase many of the designers we met at the CHA Show --- they are amazing!