The Rit Blog

St. Patrick’s Day is approaching quickly! Here’s a sweet card you can make for a special friend.  Cindi Bisson created this card using a watercolor blending technique with Rit Dye on watercolor paper.  Then she tried stamping shamrocks with Rit dye using the VersaMark inkpad, and it worked! Just think of all the many creative possibilities for papercrafts!

Cindi started out by running water over the watercolor paper and then she brushed and blended small amounts of Kelly Green and Dark Green dye directly onto the paperto create the watercolor effect. To help the dye adhere to the paper, she heated and dried the paper in the microwave! To stamp the shamrocks, Cindi first pressed the shamrock stamp onto the VersaMark inkpad. This is a clear pad with sticky ink. The ink helps the dye be more evenly distributed on the stamp.  Using this ink pad definitely opens up lots of possibilities for stamping with the dyes.  

Take a peek at the inside of the card! Cindi makes it so easy to use Rit dye for cardmaking.

Click here for the full tutorial. 

Cindi is a mixed-media artist and the Associate Producer for When Creativity Knocks, an online craft TV show. She creates a weekly Simple Solutions project and writes a Product Review for the website.  To find out more about Cindi, visit her blog at Fat Cat Creations.

Looking to wear some green on St. Patrick’s Day and catch the luck of the Irish? Find a pair of cotton socks, old or new, wrap them with rubber bands and dye them Kelly Green. These socks are fun to wear and sure to bring the luck of the Irish smilin’ on you! For a little extra luck, dye a pair for a friend! 

Barbara Warholic created these socks by wrapping 8 rubber bands horizontally around each sock, spacing them about 1 ¼” apart. The tighter the bands are wrapped, the more white area there will be. Then she dipped the socks in mixture of Kelly Green dye and hot water for 10 minutes. This is so easy and so much fun! Make one pair for yourself and one for a friend.  Better yet, invite your friends over for pre St. Patty’s tie-dye party!  Loving the sweet ribbon detailing! Click here for the full tutorial.

Barbara Warholic is a designer and author of Sewing Pottery By Machine, published by Martingale. She loves incorporating Rit dye into her work.  Visit her blog at www.softpottery.blogspot.comand her Dyeing Textiles board on www.pinterest.com.

Looking for a fun project for kids, tweens and teens?  Cindi Bisson and Ana Araujo demonstrate how to make a super easy headband during a craft show at the Port of Los Angeles.  Cindi started out by applying Rit Aquamarine and Lemon Yellow dye right out of the bottle to a 3 ½” x 2” torn strip of prewashed cotton fabric using a cotton pad.  She didn’t exactly follow the rules for dyeing, but her results were a pretty, soft watercolor effect. (To avoid staining your fingers, we would recommend wearing craft gloves, and to achieve optimum color intensity, the dye should be heated with a small amount of water.)  After applying the dye, Cindi heat set the dyed fabric in the microwave for 2 minutes.  

To make the headband, the strip was torn into a narrow strip, accordion folded, and cut with shears to make slits on both sides.  When the strip is opened, it slips easily onto the headband.  Cindi used a twist and turning motion to fluff up the fabric.  Then color beads were hot glued to the headband for a touch of bling.  What a great idea for a kids’ birthday party! 

These colorful, fun headbands can be made for any holiday simply by changing the dye colors.  Here’s one they made for Halloween.  After the base fabric was dyed, black spiders were stamped onto the fabric using Black dye and then heat set in the microwave.  Great idea for young and old alike!  Click here to see this online video from When Creativity Knocks.

Both Ana Araujo and Cindi Bisson appear regularly on When Creativity Knocks online TV show.  Stop by to see more of their creative projects and ideas.  www.whencreativityknocks.com

There may be snow on the ground, but spring is on its way!  Now is a good time to go through your closet for items that need to be recycled into a new look. We found a lavender pair of satin shoes leftover from a wedding.  Using a spot dyeing technique, we created a soft, watercolor effect and added some dip-dyed rosettes and trim.  Guaranteed to be fun to make and to wear!

We started with lavender shoes, but white satin shoes will work equally well.  Begin by spraying your shoes lightly with water.  This will help the dye colors blend together.  In one container we mixed Tangerine and Golden Yellow with hot water. In another container we mixed Cherry Red with a little hot water.  Then the fun begins!  With a small sponge, dab the yellow/tangerine dye randomly over each shoe. Then with a fresh sponge, dab the red dye in between the yellow spots. Spray the shoes again with water to cause the colors to bleed into each other, creating a watercolor effect.  Let the shoes dry fully overnight.  To make these shoes extra lovely, we dyed silk ribbons to create the sweet floral embellishments.  Finish with a few light coats of a ScotchGuard-type water repellant sealer.   We’re sure you will enjoy wearing these shoes from spring into summer.  And, if you’re a daring DIY bride, consider wearing them under your wedding gown! 

When you dye your own shoes, you can mix and blend the dyes to create any color your desire. The possibilities are endless!  Click here for the full tutorial.