How-Tos

Here’s a last-minute Mother’s Day gift you can make for someone you love!  Carla created this wall art sachet by dye-staining a wood shadow box to house a heart she dyed and then stuffed with fiberfill and dried lavender. So it’s sure to smell good all year long.  As a finishing touch, you can add a special hand-written message.

To get started, Carla hand-dyed one piece of cotton fabric and twine in Fuchsia dye.  Then she dyed a second piece of fabric and cotton twine in Sunshine Orange.  The wood shadow box was dye-stained using Aquamarine dye.  Then she cut a piece of chipboard to fit in the bottom of the shadow box and covered it with the Fuchsia dyed fabric and glued the Sunshine Orange twine around the perimeter.  The heart shape was cut from the Sunshine Orange fabric.  Then Carla hand-stitched around the edge of the heart with Aquamarine dyed twine, gathered it and stuffed it with fiberfill and lavender sachet, and glued it in the shadow box.  The flower was formed from the dyed twine.  Using a dark brown ink pen, she wrote “Happy Home, Happy Heart” on cardstock.  Click here for the full tutorial. 

Carla Schauer is an independent designer, licensed artist and a lover of color and patterns. Her designs include memory art, 3-dimensional crafts, scrapbooking, card making, mixed-media art and home decor. Carla also creates surface art for licensing. Her work can be seen at her website, www.carlaschauer.com and on her blog http://carlaschauer.com/carla-schauer-blog-whats-new/.

Have you ever painted the walls in your home a custom color and then couldn’t find switch wallplates to coordinate? Well, our friend, Barbara Warholic, found an easy solution to this dilemma. She discovered that switch wallplates are made of unbreakable nylon and they can be dyed with Rit. Just imagine the color possibilities!

Barb selected custom color recipes from the Rit Color Formula Guide.  Then, she washed the switch plates in warm soapy water before dunking them in the dye.  As a reminder, make sure that the switch wallplates are made of nylon. Wallplates are available in other materials, but only nylon can be dyed. For her dye bath, she used 1 cup very hot water and then followed the custom recipe.  Then the switch wallplate and screws were immersed into the dye mixture. (Barb’s screws took the dye.)  Allow the switch plate and screws to soak in the dye solution for up to 10 minutes.  Check the switch plate often in natural light to see how the color is progressing. The switch plate will be slightly darker when it dries completely.   This is so easy and so much fun … the color possibilities are endless! Just think of the color burst it can add to a kid’s room, and it works for outlet plates as well. Click here for the full tutorial and custom recipes.

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 and her Dyeing Textiles board on Pinterest.

In this video, you’ll see how easy it is to create a dip-dyed Ombreꞌeffect on an embroidered lampshade and terry cloth towels turned into fun pillows!  Ombreꞌis a French word meaning “to shade” and describes a gradual change in color from light to dark. The overall effect makes you feel like an artist has dipped and shaded the colors by hand.  

Dianne, our Crafts & Education Director, and Rebecca, our SVP Color Inspiration & Creativity, team up to show you how.

Supplies Needed

• Rit Denim Blue Liquid Dye
• 4 White 100% Cotton Better Homes and Gardens Hand Towels, 16” x 26”
• 16” x 16” Fairfield  Poly-Fil Soft Touch Pillow Form
• 18” x 24” Small Pillow Form
• White Embroidered Better Homes and Gardens Mod Drum Shade, 10” dia x 7” H
• Sewing Thread, Navy Blue
• Hand Sewing Needle
• Scissors
• Straight Pins
• Sewing Machine
• Dyeing Supplies:  Measuring Cup & Measuring Spoons, 4 Gallon Container for dyeing,

Stirring Spoon, Dowel Rod, Scrap Fabric for testing dye color, Salt, Dishwashing Liquid, Rubber Gloves, Paper Towels, Masking Tape, Plastic Table Cover

Dyeing Lampshade

Note:  Both the towels and the lampshade were dyed in the same dye bath.  If desired, dying can be done separately.

1.  Before starting to dye, check dyeing container to be sure the lampshade will fit.  Check depth to see how deep dye bath must be and where it will hit on the lampshade.  Mark desired depth with masking tape.

2.  Prepare dye bath:  Fill dye container with 4 gallons very HOT tap water (about 140F).  If water is not hot enough, heat some in a cook pot or tea kettle on top of the stove, just to boiling.  Then add that to the hot tap water.  Wearing rubber gloves, shake dye bottle.   Measure 3/4 cup  Denim Blue liquid dye; add to water; stir.  Measure 1 cup salt and dissolve in 2 cups very hot tap water; stir.  Add to dyebath along with a squirt of dishwashing liquid; stir well.

3.  If desired, test the color by dipping a swatch of white cotton fabric (or even a paper towel) into the dye bath for a few minutes.  If the color is too dark, add more water. If the color is too light, add more dye.

4.  Immerse lower part of lampshade in dyebath for a few minutes.  Notice how the embroidery takes on a much darker color than the background, adding a lot of visual interest.  To create an Ombreꞌlook, continue lowering the lampshade into the dye.  Leave the top of shade white.

Instructions for Dyeing Towels

1.  Prewash towels to remove any finishes that may interfere with dye absorption.

2.  To prepare towel for dyeing long pillow:  Wet one towel; squeeze out excess water.  Fold wet towel in half lengthwise so short ends are together.  Pin short ends together and along sides about 8” from ends.  This will be your mark for dip-dyeing. 

3.  To prepare towel for dyeing square pillow:  Wet one towel; squeeze out excess water.  Measure 9” up from one short end; mark on both sides.  This will be your mark for dip-dyeing.

4.  Insert dowel rod into folded towel and dip towel into dye bath.  Start slowly and leave bottom end in dye for several minutes.  Use a lift and lower motion, gradually dipping towel up to 8” pin mark.  Continue dipping towel for 6 – 8 minutes, up to 20 minutes until desired shade is achieved.  Remove towel carefully; squeeze out excess dye.  Drape over dishpan and set aside.

5.  Dip dye one end of other towel.  Start slowly and leave bottom end in dye for several minutes.  Use a lift and lower motion, gradually dipping towel up to the 9” pin mark.  Continue dipping towel for 6 – 8 minutes, up to 20 minutes until desired shade is achieved.  Remove towel carefully; squeeze out excess dye.  Drape over dishpan and set aside.

6.  Immerse remaining two wet towels in dye bath.  Stir continuously for 8 – 10 minutes until desired color is achieved.  Remove and squeeze out excess dye.  Set aside.

7.  Remove pins. Rinse dipped towels, one at a time, under cool running water.  Hold towels with the white, un-dipped section at the top.  This allows the dye to flow through to the darkest area.  Be very careful not to get any dye in the white section or it will color it.  After the water runs clear, wash the bottom of the towel in warm soapy water, rinse and dry.  Squeeze out excess water and hang to dry to dry runs into the dip-dyed section.  Repeat for other dip-dyed towel. 

8.  Rinse the two remaining towels for the pillow backs, first in cool water until water begins to run clear. Then launder in warm soapy water, rinse and dry towels. 

Sewing Long Towel Pillow

1.  Pin one solid dyed towel and one towel with dip-dyeing at each end, right sides together.   Leave 10” opening along one long side for inserting  pillow form.

2.  Machine stitch edges together using binding as a guide.  Start and stop stitching so there is a 10” opening.  Tip:  When stitching corners, stitch across the corners about ¼”.  This will produce a more rounded corner and it’s less bulky so stitching doesn’t interfere with the towel binding.

3.  Remove pins.  Turn towels with right sides out, pushing out corners with your fingers.

4.  Insert pillow form.

5.  Pin opening closed, overlapping one side over the other.  Hand stitch opening closed.

Sewing 16” Square Towel Pillow

1.  Measure 17” from the dip-dyed end of towel.  Cut to form a 17” square, not including the binding

2.  Lay dipped towel over one solid color towel.  Cut other towel to the same size.

3.  Pin outer edges, right sides together.  Leave 9” opening along one edge with binding.

4.  Machine stitch edges together using binding width as a guide.  Start and stop stitching so there is a 9” opening.

5.  Remove pins.  Turn towels with right sides out, pushing out corners with your fingers.

6.  Insert pillow form.

7. Pin opening closed, overlapping one side over the other.  Hand stitch opening closed.

Have you ever seen such beautifully colored eggs?  Suzonne Stirling, designer extraordinaire, created these custom color recipes for dyeing eggs with Rit.  Keep in mind that Rit is not food safe, so Suzonne blew out the eggs with an egg blower, which means they can be used for Easter decorating in years to come!  Take a look at her awesome recipes.