How-Tos

Need a sweet pink shirt to wear for Valentine’s Day?  Niki Meiners created this T-shirt using tie-dyeing and dip-dyeing techniques with Rit Cherry Red, Fuchsia and Golden Yellow.  The blended band of color near the waistline creates a belt-like effect, and the rosettes add extra pizzazz around the neckline.  What a sweet look!

 Niki planned the placement of three 3” diameter rosettes around the neckline, then pulled up the fabric, wrapped rubber bands around each circle and dipped them in Cherry Red dye.  To keep the dye from dripping on the shirt, she wrapped them with plastic.  To make the band at the waistline, she wrapped a rubber band about 6” from the bottom edge.  Then she dipped the top and bottom parts of the shirt in Fucshia dye.  To finish off, Niki mixed up Golden Yellow dye and squirted it on both sides of the rubber band.   To add more dimension to the shirt, she dyed and made fabric rosettes from die-cut circles.  What a fun idea!  Click here for the full tutorial.

Niki is a freelance artist and writer known for her high quality creations that feature a diverse mix of styles and a highly creative approach to even the smallest detail.  Visit her blog, 365 Days Of Crafts and check out more of her creative craftiness!

Did you know that you can make tie-dyed hearts for Valentine’s Day?  Arlene Poltrack created these delightful heart pincushions using a basic tie-dye technique. A traced heart is hand-stitched, gathered, tied and then dyed. Hearts can be made any size your heart desires and used in all types of craft projects. The heart in this project was about 2 ½” in diameter.  The pattern was made from a plastic template sheet so it could be reused many times. To create the heart shape when tie-dyeing, Arlene traced the heart shape onto white fabric; then she made a hand-running stitch with a needle and thread over the traced line, spacing stitches about ¼” apart so it looks like this. Don’t knot thread at the end!

After stitching, pull the end of the thread to gather the fabric on the stitched line, pushing your finger through the center to puff up the fabric. That’s the key to success!  Next, tie the ends of the thread into a knot and wrap a small rubber band around the thread. Then you’re ready to tie dye as usual!  Here’s a link to the full tutorial.   http://www.ritdye.com/content/tie-dye-heart-pincushions

Tie-dyed hearts can be created on T-shirts, pillows and clothing for a sweet treat that can be savored all year long!

Show how much you care!  Send a personal message to someone you love by making the card yourself.  Did you know that watercolor paper can be dyed and heat set in the microwave?  Roberta made this card by stamping hearts with a washable resist on watercolor paper and then brushed Rit dye around the resist to create a batik-like effect.  To add extra dimension, hearts and messages were ink stamped over the batik-dyed hearts, and the blue hearts were stamped and embossed.  What a sweet message! Click here for the full tutorial.   

Roberta is a writer by trade, a crafter by accident. She was a contributing writer with The Rubber Stamper magazine since its inception and now holds the same position at Crafts 'n Things. She is also a columnist at Creative Retailer. Her articles and designs have appeared in Somerset Studio, Belle Armoire, CardMaker andTake Ten, among others, and she has designed projects for several national craft companies. Hop over to her blog to see how she explores the joy of paper crafting. Her blog is www.creativeunblock.wordpress.com

Debra Quartermain created this bashful owl from wool felt that was dip-dyed in Rit Fuchsia dye, creating an ombreꞌ effect that resulted in shading from light to dark.  This easy-to-make project recently appeared in the January/February 2013 issue of Crafts ‘n Things, published by Amos Craft Publishing. http://www.craftsnthings.com/

Debra prewashed the wool felt and then mixed up the dye adding white vinegar to the dye bath to help achieve a more intense color.  To create the ombreꞌ shading, she dipped one-third of the felt into the dyebath for 10 minutes, then another third was dipped for 5 minutes and then the final third for a quick dip. After the wool is rinsed and dried, it’s cut into shapes and stitched together with the blanket stitch. Click here for the pattern.      

The owl’s feet are stuffed with pennies so he stands wherever he goes.  Perfect for gift-giving! Click here for the full tutorial.

Debra is a professional CHA designer member. Her designs have been featured in many craft and sewing publications. She has authored four books and two licensed quilt fabric lines based on her book Easy-to-Sew Playful Toys. Specializing in fabric and felt her work ranges from whimsical characters to stylish wearables. Visit www.debraquartermain.comfor more ideas.