Functional tie dye- Book Covers

Introduce tie dye pieces into everyday objects around the house. Transform mundane mass-produced purchases into objects of singular beauty around the home.
Here I have sewn a couple of book covers which took barely 30 minutes.
The top one is a cover for my sketch book in which I keep my ideas for projects. I bought the book for a couple of dollars in the sales. 
The second book is a photo album on fitted a tie tye cover and then put some braiding on which I had dyed. Tie dye and sewing can be used so creatively together.

Improve your mood with tie-dye

4 November 2012

Tie dye isn't just for students who need to cheer up their flats on a low budget. We all need tie dye in our lives to  brighten our lives and add beauty to our environment. 
Neither does tie dye have to be extremely bright or gaudy. It can be very subtle. 

It can also be added as a trim or a border around the house to lend colour to each room.
I made small covers for the arms of my sofa. It keeps the sofa and its covers clean and gives it a modern twist rather than using the ready-made traditional lace ones that one can buy.
One can cut out patchwork squares and add it to cushions or a pillow case to give it the unique feeling of homeliness. I promise you won't feel like a whole new set of sheets every year.

Make great screen savers from your tie-dye

Monday 29th October 2012

Enhanced tie-dye!! Great Screensavers

Dylon v Procion MX dyes

Monday 29 th October 2012

Dylon versus Procion MX dyes

The most commonly available dye available in the UK is Dylon dye. It is excellent for dyeing clothes or household items like sheets and towels.
Dylon is a cold water dye which makes it very easy to dye large items in a bucket.
Also Dylon dyes, for simplicity of use already has soda ash mixed in so there is no measuring.
However this means that the tie dye has a slightly faded look to it as the Dylon already contains the soda ash which is the ingredient that activates the dye.

Why use Procion MX dyes?

 Procion MX dyes are often preferred by artists as they work fantastically well on any natural fibre such as cotton, silk wool etc.
Also as they can be used in squirt bottles, this allows greater control in placing the dye where you want to.

It also allows the mixing of different colours as opposed to dyeing in a bucket in one single colour.

 Procion MX dyes produce jewel-like colours which stay colourfast, do not run and can be washed numerous times. 

What a Square!

Dyeing small squares of fabric is an wonderful way of playing with colour. It is so much easier to control the flow of the dye on the fabric with small squirt bottles. 

Also one can try out so many different folding techniques.

I like to buy up vintage thick white cotton sheets (even better if they are ex hotel as they are good quality) and rip them into squares or oblongs. 

There are endless ways to be creative with them. I have covered notebooks with them, framed some pieces,cushion covers, ribbons, pillow cases, border strips, edging, patchwork, visible bias binding The possibilities are endless. 

The Art of Tie-Dye