Many of the festivals I show my pottery at give exhibitors t-shirts. I've got quite a collection from the past few years. That's fine, I collect t-shirts, they make nice travel souvenirs. The t-shirt from the Inman Park Festival this year was white with an orange butterfly which is the logo for the neighborhood. I seem to have a lot of white t-shirts. Actually, they should be called dingy not white, I'm not a fan of using bleach. It'a chemical I think we can live without but throwing pots and gardening can make white shirts a little less than bright.
My plan with this white shirt was to brighten it up a bit with some tie dye. I've not tie dyed anything since the 70's. Yes, I was young but I was still old enough to make art projects out of my clothing (intentionally, I've always been an expert at making art projects out of my clothing with food, another reason why my whites are not so white).
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| Dying the Shirt |
Dying the shirts was fun. It was easy but a bit messy, the kit came with gloves and I wore a shirt that was already stained. I find that is the best defense against getting stuff on my clothes. If you're going to do this I highly recommend you cover the work surface well and be prepared to clean up floors & such. It wasn't too bad, but that dye will stain anything it touches.
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| The Finished Shirt |
That's a great job of dying. Well worth it I'm sure...and I've still got one from the 70's...which is now lovingly hand washed.
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara, I do like the shirt much better now.
Deletegreat job! i have been thinking a lot lately about tie dyeing and batik, like you, I haven't done it since the 70's.
ReplyDelete... you are not alone with the dingy whites, I am not crazy about using bleach either. so I just don't wear the whites when I visit my mom ;-)
Thanks Michele, I'm going to visit my mom this week. I need to follow your lead and not pack any whites.
DeleteLove it! I hadnt thought to tie dye white shirts when they get dingy...what a great idea.
ReplyDeleteActually, neither had I Julia, but I think it's a great idea. This shirt was pretty new, I had never worn it.
DeleteWhat a wonderful shirt you made; good idea about dying any dingy ones, I don't use bleach either. we get t shirts at the thrift stores for very low prices, many of the tourist ones have never been worn so are a real bargain, maybe I'll get a few plain white ones and see what I can do with them, Ha.
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