Redyed shirt = SUCCESS!

It only took 2 tries (of undying and redying a bleach spotted shirt) to fix my shirt! OK, it should have only taken one try, but I was not properly equipped last time. I am now, so I'm excited for all future excuses to dye fabric :)

Front

Back

This shirt still isn't perfect but it is much better than it was, and is now actually wearable. If it weren't, I would try to fix it again :)

I would have preferred a slightly darker shade of green, like the last time I dyed this shirt. However, last time, the dark green fabric hid some of the logos on the shirt, so that is why I didn't leave the fabric in the dye bath any longer.

Redying the shirt take 2

So the shirt I've been working on (trying to fix/hide the fact that it has bleach spots) had the dye removed, and is now ready to be dyed again!

I bought Dylon Olive Green dye, attempting to make the shirt as close to the original color as possible (short of mixing dyes).

Here's what happened:

1. Using gloves, I mixed the dye powder into warm water, in a stainless steel pot.

2. I put the DAMP shirt to be dyed, into the dye bath

After 3 min in the mix (above)

After 9 min in the mix.

I stopped dying the shirt after 9 minutes. Last time I dyed it much longer, and the color was a pretty cool dark green. But, the color was so dark that it hid some of the green screen printed patterns, so that is why I'm going lighter this time.

3. Rinse the shirt

4. Wash it

I forgot to add salt in the mix. I've heard this helps prevent dye bleeding in the future (I've also heard washing it in vinegar?) Maybe I'll do that next time.

Now, I'm waiting for the laundry to get done to see how this turned out!

The outcome from dye removal

I ruined a shirt with bleach awhile back and tried to save it by removing the dye, and redying it. It turned out uneven (because of my method I believe) so, I'm trying it again!

Here's what the shirt looked like after un/redying it the first time:


Here is the front of it after undying it the second time:


Finally, here is what the back looked like after undying it the second time:


The shirt is still not completely even, but hopefully it will be good enough. I ended up leaving the dye removal solution on the shirt MUCH longer than recommended and didn't want to press my luck :)

Undying a shirt

Now that we're all set up, lets undye this shirt. The purpose of doing this process is to make the coloring even (hopefully getting rid of some nasty bleach spots) so that it can be redyed later on. If you redye a splotchy mess, it's going to end up a splotchy mess, but in a different color :)


Steps to undye a shirt:

1. Pour the mix (Rit color remover) into some "simmering" water. Again, make sure your pot is stainless steel & that it will be dedicated to dying items and not used for food again.



2. Put the damp shirt into the newly mixed solution





3. Be careful of fabric bleeding dye after you've dyed it. This shirt was dyed before (but only was washed once since that) and left a big old bucket of green water after a short time soaking.

4. Wait, stir occasionally, and check the color or lack there of. The box suggests a total of 10-30 minutes in the solution.

This was RIGHT when I put the shirt in, instant change! Most of the green is gone.

1 minute in the mix

10 minutes in the mix

30 min in the mix

*My shirt was STILL splotchy after 30 minutes... so I dared to keep it in the solution longer. I kept a close eye on it and had my fingers crossed that the screen printed image wouldn't come off, and that the shirt wouldn't end up in shreds!*

40 min in the mix, looking pretty good, but still definite spots left.

50 minutes... eek, I ended up leaving my shirt in the solution an extra 20 minutes... but I think it finally came out alright. Hopefully it washes up nicely and is strong enough to be dyed and worn!

5. Rinse the shirt starting in hot water, then going to warm.

6. Wash it, and hope for the best :)

Supplies for removing dye from shirt

I'm removing dye from a bleach spotted shirt hoping to make the color even so it can be redyed a normal color. I refuse to let a little bleach permanently take the life from this shirt!

Since my washing machine is new, and I fear hurting or staining it in any way, I'm using the stove top method to remove the dye. I have heard the washing machine method works well and fabric turns out evenly dyed (or undyed) but don't know this first hand.

Here is what I used to remove the dye from my shirt: (remember results may vary, depending on many different factors such as fabric content and methods)

1. The shirt should be damp when starting this process. Mine was not, so I threw it in a bucket of water (and later wrung it out), and had beagle keep a close eye on it. (ok really, I put a lid on the bucket when I saw how interested he was in it)

2. A large stainless steel pot (this one is 12 qt.) (DO NOT use aluminum or anything non-stick)


3. A long stirring utensil that can be dedicated to dye projects only in the future (I used a wooden spoon)
4. 1 box of color remover: Rit Laundry Treatment color remover
5. Rubber gloves

Redying bleach stained shirt, take 2

This week is fabric dying week on my blog. Follow along with me as I have my second go at fixing a bleach stained shirt by removing the dye, and redying it.

You may remember these previous posts on the topic:
attempt to fix bleach spots on shirt take 1 pt 1
attempt to fix bleach spots on shirt take 1 pt 2

Again, remember these key things about this shirt and process:

1. The shirt I'm working with doesn't have a label, so I don't know the fabric content
2. This shirt has been undyed and redyed before (but I will be going about it a little differently this time)
3. The outcome of the shirt is never a guarantee, and what happens with my shirt may or may not happen to yours (or mine if I try it again in the future)

Here's how the shirt looked after the last round of dye: (hmmm looks a little splotchy, but I think this can be fixed)

I will be using a box of Rit laundry treatment color remover, and a bag of Dylon olive green fabric dye.

Santa hat for pets

Hubby is working today, so you know what that means... it's time to get the pets more festive for the holidays!

You may recall another post recently for pets .... pet antlers!

As the final day of accessory week, it is fitting to have one for animals :)

To make a Santa hat:

1) Cut 2 roughly triangular pieces of red fabric.

2) Sew the red fabric right sides together, leaving the bottom of the triangle open AND sewing a small "ball" of batting at the top corner of the hat (so when you turn the hat right side out it has a finished edge)

3) Turn the hat right side out

4) Cut a long strip of batting and fold it in half (lengthwise) over the bottom edge of the red fabric.

5) Top stitch the batting strip onto the hat

6) Sew elastic onto the hat (or some other method to tie the hat on)

That's all! This probably took 3 minutes, start to finish.

Trying the hat on each of my little ones and taking pictures took much longer :)

Someone doesn't look too happy... was it because she's wearing the Santa hat? Or, because her brother snuck into her picture?

Merry Christmas!

Fabric rosette hair clip

How to make fabric rosettes:

1) Cut a long, narrow strip of fabric (Mine was probably 1/2" wide. The length depends on how big or how many rosettes you will make. I think I cut mine 20ish " long but had leftovers, this varies greatly)


2) At the end of your fabric strip, fold one corner over as if you were starting to make a paper football (see below) and stitch the base of it in place.



3) Take the point that was just made (right side of picture above) and fold it to the left, so it meets up with the other side of the corner you just sewed down.

4) Stitch in place. (see diagram below, which summarizes steps 1-4)

**You now have made the center of one rosette**

5) Working with the long end of the fabric, twist the fabric strip a couple of times.

6) With the twisted fabric, rotate it around the center of the rosette (made by steps 1-4)

7) Stitch fabric in place on bottom of the forming rosette

8) Repeat steps 5-7 until your rosette has reached the desired size

After making a rosette about 3/4" in diameter, I started the process over using the same strip of fabric, leaving it attached. I ended up making a chain of 3 rosettes and then stitching them to a hair clip.

Bracelet / Headband

I love making loop chains (I don't know what this is actually called... do you?). I used to do this a lot with yarn when I was younger, so for old times sake figured I'd try it out again.

Instead of yarn, I grabbed a spool of ribbon (one of the many left over from my wedding :) ) and made a loop chain (finger weaving?).

To do this, make a loop at the end of the ribbon big enough for your fingertips to fit through it. Next, stick your fingers through the loop and pull the ribbon through. This forms a new loop through which you will stick your fingertips in and pull the next loop.

(sorry for the blurry picture)

Continue this looping process to the desired length.


I made my loop chain long enough to be a bracelet wrapped around twice.

OR, it can be used as a headband. I think it would look better to make another chain so the headband had two spaced a little bit apart.

Classic bow hair clip

Here's how to make a classic bow hair clip. For a change up, this bow could also be put on the headband from yesterday or something along that line.



1. Cut a strip of ribbon for the bow (longer or shorter depending on how big of a bow you want) my ribbon probably started out about 5" long which gave about a 2 1/2" bow at the end.

2. Make a circle with the ribbon you just cut and pinch it together so the two raw edges of ribbon are in the center of that pinch

3. Sew the ribbon together where it was pinched

4. Cut a small piece of ribbon that is big enough to wrap around the center "pinch" of the piece you just created.

5. Put tacky glue on the backside of the bow and glue the new little piece of ribbon down (see below)



6. Let it dry

7. Push a clip through the back of the ribbon (the loop you just made) or stitch some loops on the backside so a clip can be hooked on that way.





I stitched loops on the back of mine, so a bobby pin can be used.


You can also make the center piece of ribbon tighter, for a slightly different look.

This takes about a minute, and only costs a few cents. MUCH cheaper than buying one at the store! (and pretty easy too)

Easy ribbon headband

Need a quick and easy headband to go with your outfit? This only takes a minute, and you can use fabric or ribbon to match or accent your clothes.

1. Measure where a headband would sit around your head (roughly from ear to ear plus a couple of inches)

2. Cut ribbon or fabric to that length

3. Cut a small piece of elastic (about half the measurement of the gap the ribbon doesn't cover)

4. Fold the edges of one end of the cut ribbon around the elastic and zig-zag stitch the elastic in place.

5. Repeat step 4 with other end of ribbon, forming a circle.

6. Try on the headband, and adjust the fit as necessary (ex: mine was too big, so I folded the elastic over a bit and sewed it smaller)

To add little something extra to this, you could put a bow on it.

Button hair clip

Here's another super simple, ultra fast hair accessory that you can make with things you already have in under a minute.

Supplies:
Buttons
Felt
Hair clip
Tacky glue



1. Cut felt piece large enough to cover the hair clip, and hold whatever you will be gluing onto it.
2. Glue the felt onto the hair clip
3. Glue the buttons on
4. Let it dry, and it's ready to go!

Tutorial : Quick & easy hair accessory

This week is "accessory week" on my blog. I bought a bag of hair clips to decorate, and busted out some scrap fabric to make a really simple hair accessory. This is a NO-Sew hair clip. It's the perfect project for this busy holiday season!

Here is how it was made : (it only takes a minute or two)

1. Grab a scrap of fabric from your stash, and a hair clip.

2. Cut the fabric into the shape below (cut it larger or smaller based on how big you want your bow. My fabric was roughly 3 times the length of the hair clip to start)

3) Use fray check around the perimeter of the fabric you just cut to prevent it from fraying too much. (though it is not supposed to look too finished either)

4) Tie a knot, it will now look like the picture below.

5) Slip the hair clip through the knot you just tied, but on the backside of the bow.

6) That's all! The best part is that you could easily tie several different bows, and change them out on the same hair clip, depending on which accessory you wanted that day.

* you could also tie this bow onto a headband or hair tie for a slightly different look*

Christmas card clothespins

Hubby and I were looking for a way to display Christmas cards in our living room that was a little more "married couple" and a little less "college dorm room".

In the past, I have dug out my hemp, strung it across the wall, and used my trusty bobby pins to fasten the pictures and cards onto the string. Though this method works, we decided to veer from that path :)

Instead we painted and decorated craft sized clothespins in two different sizes, medium and small. We used a mint green color for the background of the clothespins that we were going to decorate. Then, we used fine tipped markers to draw seasonal images onto the clothespins. The smaller size was harder to decorate. I then painted several clothespins silver (with puffy paint, since every project must involve that!), and we left those plain.


Finally, we strung a plaid red and green 1 1/4" ribbon across the corner of our living room and tied bows with the ribbon on each end. The holiday cards were then hung up with the clothespins. (the small clothespins work really well on horizontal picture cards)

I think the clothespins turned out cute, but at the same time, I feel like I cheated on my bobby pins... I use those for everything. They're kind of like duct tape to me!

Completed chair!

Well one chair has made it to the finish line! My first attempt at chair reupholstery was not a complete disaster :) (the other chair is still being taken apart)

I'm happy the final post for this project is on my Grandpa's birthday! He and my Grandma reupholstered these chairs a long time ago, and set me up with what I needed to try the project.

Here are links to the process:

taking the chair apart pt 1
taking the chair apart pt 2
covering buttons with fabric
reupholstering the chair back pt 1
reupholstering the chair back pt 2
reupholstering the seat

Here is the final product:



Front and back views of the chair

Once the other chair is done I'll see what we have left over for fabric (if any, may have to get more). I'm planning on making some throw pillows for the couch to tie the chairs in with it.

Also, I'm thinking of making a piano bench cushion in this fabric, again to tie things together in the room. That's debatable though... it might end up another color/texture/pattern :)

Tutorial - reupholstering the chair back pt 2

The back of the chair I'm reupholstering has fabric now!

Here is how it was done:

1) 3 panels were sewn together (seams matching up with the chair legs) using the old fabric as the pattern.

2) The fabric was stapled right side down, at the top of the chair (so it can be folded over to cover the chair and have a nice finished edge) A TACKING STRIP was used for this step (thin cardboard strip as shown below) to give a nice crisp looking finish.

3) Flip the fabric downwards over the chairs back. Make sure it is pulled completely tight along the entire top so there isn't extra fabric later on.

4) Pull the fabric tight and staple a few sections of fabric to the bottom of the chair, making sure it is centered.

5) Fold the edges under, then, using upholstery strength thread and a special curved upholstery needle, hand sew the two sides of the chair back to the fabric that was stapled on as the chair front. (pic below)

6) Finish stapling the fabric onto the bottom of the chair, folding raw edges under around the chair legs.


7) Get ice, or a cool rag for your very tired, red fingers :)

Here are the two chair pieces (and a cat toy)... next, on to assembly!