So the first little bit of experimentation was with some Kool Aid sachets. I tried a red (strawberry) and a yellow (lemon). Also mixed a little bit of the strawberry and lemon together to get a nice orange colour.
This is how the colour looked painted onto the fabric. It rinsed out as a lovely watermelon pink and peachy-yellow. This piece will be turned into an elephant.
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Then I tried some traditional dyeing. You're supposed to add the sachet to a big pot of water and boil it. I like to mix up little concentrated cups and paint it on. It gives me greater control over the placement of the colour - and means i can get rainbow effects.
This is the colour painted on and setting. For really rich, deep colours I'd leave it to dry overnight - then rinse it out. But i wanted softer tones, so i left it for about half an hour.
This is the colouring once rinsed. Its still wet, but you can see the shades really nicely.
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This is the last piece i did tonight. I just used the purple, blue and green to give a nice deep foresty colouring. I'm leaving this one to dry overnight and will rinse it in the morning. Hopefully i should get some nice rich colours!
Interestingly!
ReplyDeletethose came out so pretty! especially the rainbow! i can't wait to see the finished animals!
ReplyDeleteLove the colours! You also cut them out so well so all the pieces match on the bears. Where do you get Kool Aid from - I've heard about dyeing with it but didnt know you could buy it here.
ReplyDeleteReally neat! I can't wait to see that elephant!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the dyeing tips. i've got some dyes comeing to me, but wanted to try the Kool Aid too, assuming my friend in the US delivers for me! I didn't realise you could paint it on, thanks for the tip :o)
ReplyDeletethanks guys. I'm looking forward to making up the bears and elephant too. And a friend of mine bought the kool aid for me from a speciality lolly shop. I think they were $1 a sachet. So not too bad in terms of dye costs (but really expensive if you wanted it as a drink!). If I used the yellow again, I'd probably need 3 sachets to the 1 red. The red went a lot further. I have a purple (grape) to try too at some stage in the near future.
ReplyDeleteAnd the photos of the other rainbow bears I've made previously were done a little different. On these ones i cut out all the pieces first, then painted the rainbows on, matching the stripes with each piece (ie. leg to leg, arm to arm etc.). Next time I rainbow dye like that I'll do a mini tutorial.