Supplies
- Rit All-Purpose Liquid Dye: Indigo Used Here
- Rit ColorStay Dye Fixative
- Unfinished Cotton Canvas
- Rubber Bands
- Salt
- Container for Dyeing
- Measuring Cup
- Rubber Gloves
- Plastic Table Cover
- Paper Towels
Time
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Difficulty
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Instructions
- Cut a big circle out of the canvas. Choose a diameter that fits your tree. Ours was 40”.
- Make a small hole in the middle for your tree. You can do this by folding the circle in half and placing a round can halfway across the middle of the fold. Trace the can and then cut the canvas accordingly.
- Leaving the fabric folded, cut the fold open on one of the sides. This opening will allow you to place the skirt over the base of the tree.
- Wash the canvas with warm soapy water to remove any finishes. Do not dry.
- Lay the wet canvas flat. Scrunch a section and secure with rubber bands. The more tightly you secure the scrunch, the more white space you will see in the final result. Repeat scrunching various sections of the canvas. With each section, vary the amount of canvas scrunched. Continue until the majority of the canvas is scrunched. Now shape the canvas into a ball with more rubber bands.
- To prepare dyebath: fill a large container with 3 gallons of very hot water. The water should ideally be 140ºF. If tap water is not hot enough, heat water on the stove and add to the dyebath.
- Wearing rubber gloves, add 1/2 cup of well-shaken Indigo dye to dyebath. Stir well.
- Submerge scrunched fabric into dyebath. For a high contrast pattern, keep canvas in dyebath for 3 to 5 minutes. For more color and less white space, leave scrunched fabric in the dyebath for 10 to 20 minutes.
- When desired color is achieved, remove wrapped fabric from the dyebath. Do not remove rubber bands.
- Use Rit ColorStay Dye Fixative immediately after dyeing and before washing, following package instructions. It enhances the color, increases color retention and prevents dye from bleeding into white areas.
- Rinse in cool water until water begins to run clear. Carefully remove rubber bands.
- Unfold dyed canvas and hang to dry completely. When dry, iron out any wrinkles for a smooth surface.
- Optional: Add small ties to keep the skirt closed once it’s on the tree base. Cut 6 pieces of 6″ ribbon. Using a hot glue gun, glue the ties to the bottom of the skirt in sets of 2.
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