DIY Spring Ombre Blouse!

Hey guys! It's finally spring time!!! (Yaaaaaaaay! *awkward dance*) I was shopping around and saw ombre EVERYTHING. I conveniently had a blouse that needed a stain covered up (darn you sketti red sauce!!!) So I decided to ombre my blouse!

SUPPLIES:

•  Tulip One-Step Tie Dye (Purple)
• Brush
• Bowl of water
• Garbage bag

  First, make sure you cover up your surface with a garbage bag and your hands with gloves! Tie Dye is not very friendly! Next, generously squeeze the dye on the bottom of the damp shirt. (This is going to be the darkest part) If you want it darker, Black dye at the bottom should do the trick!

Next, dip the brush in the water and spread the dye up. Do this each time so it gradually looks lighter.

After this, lay the garbage bag down and hang your shirt to dry. If you just leave it flat, the color will start to crawl up!

 

How to Ombré Dye Your Jeans (VIDEO!)

LINK

Los Angeles fashion blogger, BoiFromIpanema has a really cool video tutorial on ombré dying a pair of jeans. He visited our iLovetoCreate studios this past summer and learned all about the process of ombré dyeing. Here he shows step-by-step how to find the median point AND how using black dye on the edges can help finish the look.

Even if you don't need to dye your jeans, per se, I would still watch the video because you can use this technique on so many other applications! (Also, look for a funny cameo from MayaInTheMoment!)  Visit his blog at BoiFromIpanema.com

Dyed Maxi Skirt

The other day I sewed a long maxi skirt with a high waist.  I wanted to give it some more visual interest, so I decided to dye the bottom of it.  Here's how it turned out.  (It actually is a skirt, but I have a matching shirt on with it to make it look like a dress.)

After sewing the skirt, the dye process was pretty easy.  I used the Tulip one-step dye.  

It comes with a bottle that already has powder in it.  You just add the water to the line and you're set.  The package even has a set of gloves in it.

I poured mine into a spray bottle.  I also had some Tulip fabric spray at home that I used at the bottom of the skirt as well.  The other spray bottle was filled with water.

So here's how it went down.  I took my skirt, put on my safety goggles, and hung it in my lab.  Okay, it was really just my garage...and I didn't have goggles.  I put a drop cloth underneath.

I spray the middle section with water.  That way when I sprayed the dye it wouldn't show the actual spray marks, but it would blend well onto the gray.  This is key.

Then I sprayed the dye.

Lastly, I sprayed the fabric spray and let it all dry.

The colors all blend well when you spray them at the same time.  If you don't want to see the wrinkles int the fabric you have to hold out the skirt as you spray.  Or, if you like the wrinkles for texture (like the picture below) you can just spray away.

And you have a one-of-a-kind look.  If you don't sew, you could easily buy a plain skirt and dye the bottom as well.  I think it would look pretty with just one color at the very bottom, too.

Firecracker Tie Dye Patriotic T-shirt

Just in time for the 4th of July, we've made a super cute Firecracker popsicle-inspired top!  After doing our research, we found out some people call them Bomb Pops or Rocket Pops! Firecracker pops are so iconic and remind us of summer days and trips to the ice cream truck.  I'm always a sucker for nostalgia, so wearing a firecracker pop shirt if right up my alley!  I enlisted the help of our awesome designer Lauri Eaton and she whipped up this shirt in minutes (minus drying time).  This DIY is just about as easy and fun as eating a Firecracker popsicle!

Firecracker Tie Dye Patriotic T-shirt

What you'll need:

– Tulip One-Step Tie Dye in red and royal blue
– Tulip Dye Zip Ties
– Tulip Surface Cover
– 100% white cotton shirt
– Pliers

What you do:

1. Wet or dampen your cotton t-shirt; wring out any exess water.

2. Lay shirt on surface cover. Cinch the shirt into three different sections and use pliers to pull zip ties tightly on bottom and top section as shown above.



3. Mix Tulip Tie Dyes and shake well.  Squeeze red dye and saturate top part of shirt.  Squeeze dye about a half inch from the cinched zip tie.  The dye does bleed and will seep to this section eventually.  Do the same with the blue dye at bottom.  Also make sure to turn over and make sure you get all areas on the other side of the shirt.

4. Roll and wrap in Tulip Surface Cover and let sit 6-8 hours.

5. Rinse under faucet to remove excess dye. Rinse until water runs clear.

6. Leave rubber bands on shirt and machine wash in large load setting.

7. After washing, remove rubber bands. Machine dry.

So what did you call this treat? Firecracker, Bomb Pop, or Rocket Pop?

MAYA IN THE MOMENT TEEN CRAFT: Bottlecap Dyed Dress

 This is my dress transformation after using bottlecaps, string and Tulip One Step Dye! I love how the colors are super vibrant!

 

This is  dress I wore to my high school graduation party. That feels like ages ago. I wanted to give it a makeover, so I went for dye! 

 I used purple, teal and navy blue. I didn't want to do the usual tie method so I experimented with bottlecaps!

 Here is my dress, bottlecaps, string and scissors.

 I dampened the dress and slipped a bottlecap under the fabric and tied it tightly around the base with string. I did this all over the front of the dress. If I ever do this project again, I'll know to tie the string REALLY tight so that more of the white comes through!

 I tied the top of the dress up too.

 Here is where I added the dye. I used all three colors around the bottlecaps and on the top of the dress. Wrap it up in a plastic garbage bag and let it sit overnight. In the morning, take it out and wash in cold water in your machine.

 Finished design! Isn't it pretty? I don't think the photo does it justice!

 Here it is on the mannequin. I could hardly wait to try it on!

Outtake of me complaining to my mom about her early morning phototaking skills. At least the dress looks cool!

TIPS:
- 100% cotton works best.
- Dampen your fabric first.
- Tie the string around the bottlecaps really tight.
- Use a plastic tablecloth to cover your work area and use gloves.

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Friday After 5 at iLoveToCreate!

Most people don't like to stay late at work on a Friday after 5, but our employees do! Check out Michelle and Leah in our dye area. They are having fun with our Tulip® One-Step Fashion Dyes™. And their results look amazing!

Here's Leah, our Traffic Manager using the ombre technique on her hoodie.

Don't these colors look "cool"? Pardon the bad pun.

And Michelle, our ILTC Creative Director hasn't worn this shirt in years. She custom mixed dyes to make a cool olive green color. She's totally in love with the results and we are too!

Alyson's shirt - As seen in Altered Couture!

In the iLoveToCreate studios, we totally love to make new fashions and then wear them and show them off! Case in point, check out Alyson wearing this fabulous Tulip® One-Step Fashion Dye™ creation that is blinged out with Tulip® Glam-It-Up!™ Iron-On Crystals™, additional rhinestones and flowers.


It was actually featured in a recent issue of Altered Couture! Allee Marderosian created it with a cool matching skirt especially for the mag. Love it!

Check out our latest tie dye video

If you've been "dyeing" to try tie dye (yes we meant the bad pun), check out our new video showing you a wide range of techniques! It is so easy and soooo fun using our Tulip® One-Step Fashion Dye™.

If you do make a creation with our tie dye, share it with us and it may be featured here on our blog! E-mail us at ilovetocreateblog@yahoo.com and attach your project! We'd love to see what you do!

Basic Tie Dye Video with Maya!

Crafty Chica's™ daughter Maya seems to have gotten the crafty gene too! Check out this funny and highly creative craft video that she made. Great job Maya!