Tutorial - Upcycle Clothing with DIY Shibori Dyeing

Change the color of a dress for a new look

Tutorial at Green Issues by Agy Blog

"Apart from upcycling my scraps, I have been fascinated with how you can change the colour of your clothes. Adding a burst of colour, whether it be bright pink or even black, can really change the way you perceive your garment. Just like that, you can become attached to it again, and hopefully it will make its way back to the top of your pile of clothes in the wardrobe. Sad to say, we tend to ignore certain items when we get bored with them, and if you are not good with the needle and thread (or sewing machine) perhaps a packet of dye would help you in getting a "new" garment without hitting the stores".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Make Dip Dyed Envelopes

Quick and easy way to add a personal touch to any form of paper stationery

Tutorial at Life & Lisa Blog

"Lately, I've been obsessed with party decor. My friend's little girl is turning 1 (insert awww here) and I'm helping plan the aesthetics. The idea of party favours was considered and I thought this would be a great option. So naturally I thought I'd share it with you. This was all done with food dye. Yay for thriftiness! I'm constantly trying to find new ways to craft on a budget. Firstly because it's always good to be on top of the latest deals and secondly because it's always nice to have a few extra pounds in the pocket".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Dye Yarn with Food Coloring

You can use cotton or wool yarn

Tutorial at Makery Blog

"When I was making my yarn wrapped pattern weights it occurred to me that it might be quite fun to ombre dye the cotton yarn I was using. I only need to dye a little bit so didn’t want to fork out for Rit or  Dylon fabric dyes. So I turned to the kitchen cupboards, naturally!  You will need: Yarn.  (I used simple cotton dishcloth yarn). Food Colour. White vinegar. Glass bowls".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Bleach and Dye Denim

Repair old or damaged jeans

Tutorial at The Inspired Wren Blog
 

"I cannot be trusted with bleach. In a previous home, I dropped an open bottle on the carpeted area in front of our washing machine (I convinced Mr. Wren the area needed to be tiled after that). And just last week, I accidentally poured bleach instead of vinegar into the fabric softener cup on our washing machine. It's a top loader with an agitator and it was a very sloppy pour into that center cup. There were eight pair of jeans in the machine at the time. I somehow managed to hit each pair. Only one pair remains wearable as is, because the bleach only hit the waistband. It took me a good twelve hours to recover enough to talk about it. By that time I realized I had an opportunity to turn lemons (well, bleach) into lemonade".... Read more

Tutorial - Turmeric Dyed Ombre Yarn

Use natural turmeric to add beautiful golden ombre tones to a ball of yarn

Tutorial at Makery Blog

"In the past I’ve used tea & Coffee to dye clothes. I’ve been meaning to try turmeric as a dye for aaaages. Then this week when I was “playing” with some yarn for an upcoming project (which btw worked out really well and I think you’re gonna love!!) I figured I might as well use the turmeric on some yarn instead to guage the process and see if I liked it before committing it to a garment. Well, I like it alot! What’s more it’s so easy to do. If you have some plain yarn at home that is in need of a little more zing….this could be just the ticket".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Dye Leather Gloves

Dye and condition old gloves to make them like new

Tutorial at Makery Blog

"Today I thought I'd share another little experiment with Rit dye. Whilst my stockpot was simmering away I began pondering what else I could use all that lovely rich dye liquor for. I like to get value for money! (BTW, did you know you can bottle unused Rit dye liquid once it's cooled and reuse it months later! Apparently so...result, huh?)  Anyway, I decided on a whim to randomly chuck this pair of leather gloves into the mixture...and what do you know? It worked! They didn't crisp up when they dried and the result is relatively even...so I guess...you CAN dye leather with Rit dye".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Dye Yarn with Madder

Pot and tools should be used exclusively for dyeing

Tutorial at Solene Knits Blog

"I just received a case of big natural wool and decided to start again experimenting with natural dyeing. I dyed a skein with a mixture of plants called "henné noir" but there is no henna nor indigo in it. Well, I got a beautiful brown with it. I dyed another skein with madder. Last time I tried dyeing with madder, I got a very light pink so I was really not satisfied. But this time, I obtained the perfect madder red. Let me show you how I did".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Make a Shibori Dyed Shirt

Shibori dyed look using household bleach

Tutorial at Miss P Blog

"I've been wanting to have a dabble with Shibori for a while. I particularly love all the indigo Shibori projects that are popping up all over. But I'm also a fan of using everyday household materials/supplies for creative projects. I guess I just love the idea that if the creative mood strikes, I can just have a rummage in my cupboards and whip something up from what's there. Rather than having to drive 40mins to my nearest craft store or order supplies online and wait with baited breath for them to arrive. This is one such project. Bleach, string, and a cotton kaftan top I had languishing in my stash, and hey presto....bleach Shibori".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Ombre Dye Fabric

Making something ombre is really easy, and you’ll love the results

Tutorial at The Tiptoe Fairy Blog

"One of my favorite things to do crafting wise is dyeing. I love to tiedye fabrics, clothes, and especially handmade toys I make. I’ve even gotten my children into it. Every time they see me break out the dyes, they ask if they can dye something, too.  It’s such a fun process and the results are always so vibrant and beautiful. But, it’s also a mystery, too. With low water immersion or even tiedye or so many other ways to dye, sometimes you have no idea how it’s going to turn out. I love that about this craft".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Dye Eggs

Food safe dyes and stickers make a variety of colored eggs

Dyed Eggs Tutorial at Speckled Sydney Blog

"How did Easter go from crucifixion to chocolate eggs, resurrection to rabbits? hot cross buns and egg hunts?  Growing up I had mixed feelings about Easter. I had no gripe with hollow chocolate eggs of sub-standard quality. The teenage me had issues with going to Easter Sunday service, mostly because being the eldest child I had to hoard the basket for blessing. This big basket was laden with boiled and dyed eggs, hard and soft cheeses, breads, sausages, cured meats, salt and a candle. After a lengthy service (and no prior breakfast), we would fall upon the food like wilder beasts. Once full, the fun would really begin".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Coffee Dye Silk

No chemicals in this dyeing process

  Dye Tutorial at Miss P Blog

"Sooooo, following on from yesterday's post about tea dyeing, I had ANOTHER silk top that was gifted to me by a lovely friend. The pale lilac colour really washed me out though so I'd never worn it. When googling info on tea dyeing it occurred to me that coffee might have similar dyeing/staining properties".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Bleach and Re-Dye Jeans

 

Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area and wear gloves

ReDyed Jeans Tutorial at The Little Giggler Blog

"Don't use jeans that have holes.  The bleach will just eat them away.  -Don't use too much bleach.  Slow and steady people.  -Check on the jeans frequently while they're in the bleach.  If they look like they're not progressing, take them out.  -Make sure your jeans are somewhat good quality.  If they're too thin they will just fall apart.  -Don't try this with you're brand new $80 jeans.  I used jeans that were given to me, so I wouldn't be devastated if they didn't turn out cute.  (This is a great project for thrifted jeans".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Hand Dye Yarn

Get different shading by overdying a portion of the yarn

Hand Dyed Yarn Tutorial at Nantucket Knitter Blog

"A great and creative activity!  You can e-mail me for a pdf at natalie@nantucketknitter.com.  You will need: - a teaspoon - a big enamel or cast iron pot - a thermometer - white, cream or light coloured wool yarn - dye - citric acid".... Read more

Tutorial - How to Hand Paint Wool Yarn

Gorgeous and so fun!

Hand Paint Wool Yarn Tutorial at Show Tell Share
"My Mom is a knitter and she loves colorful yarn. In Hungary, the yarn selection does not even come close to what is available here in the States. I took her to our LYS (local yarn store) not to Joann's or Hobby Lobby. She had such a great time looking at all the beautiful yarns, I knew she would have fun coloring her own yarn. But not just one color, I showed her how to paint yarn with many colors. You can make your own hadpainted yarn for under $10/skein, versus buying one for $20 or more! It is really very simple and fun to do. I have done this several times with my boys and we have used plants, Kool-Aid and food color. This time though, I splurged and got some Jacquard acid dyes..." Read more

Tutorial - How to do Snow Dyeing

Amazingly cool technique! (Ha! Get it?)

Getting Started - Snow Dyeing Tutorial at Bloom, Bake & Create
"I have been dying to do this since I met Karen Hampton and interviewed her for my column in our local newspaper. I couldn’t stop drooling over her beautiful fabric.

Since we’ve had so much snow lately and I had rounded up everything I needed, I set out to try Karen’s technique and another I found on the Internet. I tried several batches with two different techniques, so I’ll cover the steps in separate posts.

For those of us who live in snowy areas, there is still time to play with this technique. If you are snowless, you can make snow with one of those snow cone machines or even chopped ice..." Read more

Be sure to read Technique #1 and Technique #2. Check out Ice Dyeing too whether or not you have snow!

Tutorial - How to Dye Wool Felt with Kool Aid

Love the mottled colors and looks like a lot of fun!

Rainbow Dyed Felt With KoolAid Tutorial at Fiona Duthie
"Dyeing with food dyes, including Kool Aid is a great project for working with children, and can also be a practical way for anyone to get some lovely variegated wool felt into their stash! We dyed ours with Kool Aid, as a way to get a nice mix of colors, with just white wool felt, and some easy to find ingredients. Food coloring or cake decorating colors also work using the same principles- they all work as acid dyes on the wool fibers..." Read more

Tutorial - How to Dye Wool with Food Coloring

Cutie rainbow girl!

Dye Wool with Food Coloring Tutorial at Many Skies Mama

"I've been dying things with koolaid, or food coloring for a while now - I did loads of silks, and then last Christmas I dyed some wool leg warmers. Then one day it hit me - and to be honest I don't know why it took so long ;) - I could dye the sweaters I've been repurposing! ..." Read more

Tutorial - How to Dye Yarn With Kool-Aid

The voice of experience is so useful when trying something like this for the first time. We can learn from her experiments! Beautiful results!

Dye Yarn With Kool-Aid Tutorial at Uzume's Crafty Goodness
"Prior to writing this, I decided, for the sake of correctness, to check the spelling of everyone’s favorite powdered drink. Kool-ade, I had thought, made sense. Like lemonade or limeade. Right?
Wrong! “Kool-Aid”, the package pronounced. I was perplexed. I still am. I guess it aids you… in being “kool”? Whatever that is. I’m bitter that my sensible-spelling logic didn’t work out.
Regardless of any personal issues I might now have with said drink mix, it is a fantastic color-izer of woolen stuff. I have been getting into yarn lately, and, even more lately, into wool yarn (it felts! Isn’t that awesome?!?!) and I vaguely remembered hearing something about Kool-Aid. I hit Google, found a few pages with general instructions, and within a few hours I had dyed my first batch of yarn.

I’ve dyed several batches since then, and here’s how I do it..." Read more

Tutorial - How to Tea Dye

I NEED to know what she's doing with all of that lovely, messy stuff!

Tea Dye Tutorial at Once Upon A Pink Moon
"I have been working on decorating my place for Halloween (I LOVE Halloween) and thought I would make a tutorial on how to tea dye since I need to dye some things for a project and have had several inquiries on how I do it..." Read more

Exchange Program - How to Make a Blood Tank-Top

Eep! Here's another fabulous tutorial created as part of my Exchange Program. Mama Lusco Handmade made this scary tank top using Spray Blood from Simply Spray.

Blood Tank-Top Tutorial on Mama Lusco Handmade
"The effect of Spray Blood truly looks like real blood! My son had fun acting in his bloody tank and was really excited with how it turned out. If you're looking for fake blood, this is a great product for fabrics!...." Read more