Thursday, December 30, 2010

Snow Dyeing Part 1


I have always wanted to try this technique but never had the time or thought it was beyond my capabilities. I am not a dyer or a patient person so that does cause problems. But snow was going to be melting because temps are rising into the 50's with rain and thunderstorms - in December in Chicago???!!! I know, crazy right? Couple that with my 9 year old daughter telling me she's bored and I now have the guts to try this out.


So we rounded up some white t-shirts and scraps of white fabric that I had on hand and off we went. First I soaked everything in the soda ash for 20 minutes or when I remembered it again - whichever came first. Then I put them in the freezer. I read that somewhere, yes I did do some research before starting. Now I get to put the girl to work and she was very happy to do so. She is packing snow on each of the containers and then had a break to chomp on some of the ginormous icicles forming due to the big thaw starting.



The three containers on the right are the t-shirts and I let Maddy "design" them. She loves this part. She always puts so many colors together I am afraid she will get mud but she always gets astonishingly beautiful pieces! Here they are:







The last is a fabric scrap I dyed using fushia, red and yellow. I ended up washing these out last night after all the snow had melted. Someone told me to let them sit 24 hours and then wash. So I left the blues and greens "cooking" for the full 24 hours. I have them in the washing machine now and will post a little later.

10 comments:

kathy said...

Oh Patty,these are so gorgeous!!!! And you and your daughter made a fun memory...what fun. She will never forget.

Katherine McNeese said...

these are way too cool!!!
maybe if there is any left tomorrow, I'll do one too.
Katherine

Norma Schlager said...

The T-shirts look great. I especially like all the mottling in the first one. What fun for you and your daughter!

pcoxdesign said...

Thanks for looking! My kids love the tie dyed shirts so it is fun to have a reason to play.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like amazing fun - the shirts look great as well. I think I might have to travel to a country where it snows just to experience "snow dying" :LOL

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

I like the results. Were these cotton shirts or a blend?

pcoxdesign said...

Rhoda, the bottom two were 100% cotton. Not sure about the top one because the tag was ripped out. It was a heavier weight than the others and I will be hunting them down since this seemed to be the one that took the dye the best. Thanks for looking.

Barb R said...

Those shirts look great! As for the snow melting, never fear - there's plenty more where that came from. LOL!

P.S. LOVE your floors.

Barb in snowy, frigid, freezing (but now warm-ish and melting) Ottawa, Ontario

pcoxdesign said...

LOL Barb! Our worst snowstorms are usually Jan. Feb., and March so I guess I will have more chances. But I will have to get more dye first!
Like my photographic backdrop? My hubby is putting a floor in my studio so I am stuck improvising.Thanks for looking!

Cindy Cooksey said...

What beautiful results for the first time! I'm impressed. We don't get snow here, but it looks like fun!