nodamncatnodamncradle:
Ice dyeing take two. The colors are a lot more vibrant in person!! I still need to put them through a wash cycle to get dye residue out and make the base colors a little brighter. I used grey tulip liquid dye ($1.66 at A.C.Moore) for depth and black rit powder ($2.59) for over all.
Step 1: scrunch up your fabric, secure with rubber bands, and put in a pretty tight container. THe tighter it is around the fabric the more intense the color because it won’t be able to spread out as much (makes sense, yeah?) I used a small rubbish bin.
Step 2: I drizzled some grey dye over dry fabric before the ice, but you don’t have to. Put a layer of ice over the fabric. Different sizes yield different results, but I’ve only used large cubes from the freezer. You could use crushed or even a bunch of snow (if you have it!). You should be able to barely see the fabric through the layers, but really use as much as you want! Experiment experiment, experiment—the results will be awesome no matter how much you use
Step Three: drizzle a little more grey dye, and cover the ice layer with the powdered dye. I ended up using about 1/3 of a small box. The ice needs to be really saturated! I topped it off with a bit more liquid dye.
Step Four: BE. PATIENT. Cover container with plastic (I put it the whole thing in a trash bag so there could be a bit o a vent at the top and to avoid mess) and let it sit for AT LEAST 24 hours. This is the absolute most important step. If you don’t let it sit long enough it will not turn out well and all your work would be for nothing :( These sat for about 35 hours.
Step Five: When it’s time to rinse, slowly unfold fabric under running lukewarm water. until the run off is a few shades lighter. Transfer to hand sink and run hot water unevenly over shirt. Find ultra dark spots and run the water directly over it without moving until you like what it looks like (that’s how I got those circles in the second picture. Once it looks good, continue rinsing in suuuuper cold water. After it dries you may want to throw in the wash on cold delicate cycle and dry on high heat to set the dye (depending on your fabric and if you can do this).
I have only worked with jersey knit, but this can be used on any natural fabric. There are some fantastic tutorials online with process pictures and stuff, so I’d check those out.
Anyway, hope this was helpful!