Tie Dye How To

I'm sure there are many ways to do this...here is the way that I know and what I do.
Oh, and be smarter than me and WEAR GLOVES. That soda ash can burn like an SOB.


My layout for fun.

I mix up my dye. I like to use a procion dye that doesn't require heat and actually reacts with the fabric. Walmart (yes, yes, I know) sells a reasonable kit with nice dyes. That's actually what made these shirts.


But I use Dharma for the most part. Moving along...
First you soak what you are dying in a solution of washing soda (soda ash) and water. I go about 10 minutes.


Then I take a fork to the center of where you want the swirl and twirl it like the biggest piece of spaghetti ever.


If you are doing a rainbow with 6 colors, then section it like this.


Dye 3 sections yellow


Overlap one section on the yellow with the blue


And the same with the red


Until you get this big messy mess and then flip and repeat.


Wrap it up in plastic wrap or a Ziploc

Let sit overnight (or at least 8 hours) in a cool, dark place. Rinse until water comes clean. Wash ALONE or with other dyed items and look awesome.


PS, you aren't high. I was using pics from two different things: a sheet and a shirt. Some pics just illustrated my point better. :)

We're Up!

Well, we got the store up and running. I spent hours photographing bows, editing pictures, and uploading them to the shop. So much time that I didn't get to make a single bow today! But that's ok, I did figure out how to make the boutique style bow this weekend, pretty excited about that!


I also nearly finished 2 bulletin boards, just have to personalize them.

Alright craft lovers, go check out the site! Click here for cuteness!


Just so you know, we can customize any of our products for you. Just send us an e-mail at imperfectcrafters@gmail.com and let us know what you are looking for!

Store Opening Soon

Jamie and I will be opening an Imperfect Crafters store soon! We're just waiting on some set up and approval stuff. Until then, here are some bow shots...

Hi again!

It's been a while. It's so hard to get into the swing of a new blog. I have grand plans for crafting coming up this week. I'll probably do some tie-dyeing and hope to put up a how-to if you want to learn. It's pretty easy when you have the right materials.

Jennifer is also working on an etsy shop where you can buy some of the awesomeness she (and I hopefully) makes.

Checking in to say we are still here and kicking. :)

Boards, clips, and tacks! Oh my!

I made this board for my friend, Jennifer at work. She works in our school office, so a lot of people have seen it and I'm getting requests to make more. I freakin' love the paisley print of the fabric, her's turned out way cuter than mine and I'm a little jealous!



Another teacher had a cork board in her room, but wanted it dressed up. Don't mind the squigglies all over her name, that's not art, that's me not being sure if she wants her name blasted all over the internet.


Then I made a hair bow holder for a little girl I know. Her mom told me she likes zebra print and hot pink, so zebra print and hot pink she got.

(My arm costs extra)

And since I was making a bow holder, I had to figure out how to make bows, these are a few of the ones that I made last night.

The tails on the bottom one would have been longer, but when I was using my lighter to seal the ribbon edges, the whole thing started to burn up. Oops! Still pretty cute anyway!

And last, but not least, the tack making has gone overboard! We recently took a 6 hour each way car trip and came back the next day, so I was busy punching out circles to make tacks and magnets. (obviously, I was the passenger, not the driver)


This really isn't even all of the ones I have, there are others that are in different stages of completion.

Update

I've been working on teaching myself some new crafts (thank you fellow bloggers and google) and also quite a few more bulletin boards. I'll update you guys with pictures this weekend!

Teacher's Cork Board

I never make crafty things for my classroom, but I've got a new name and a new class mascot. We're the Monkeys this year, so I made myself a cork board ($3.99 from goodwill).







Also, I'd just like to add that the glass bead tacks are incredibly easy to make. I made about 100 of them this evening. I was curious how other people were attaching the tacks to the back so I did a google search and found an online shop selling them for $1.00 - $2.00 a piece! WOW! So, I figure I will be able to retire from teaching if I just keep making these cute little guys.




If you'd like some, let me know, I promise I'll give you a better rate than $1 each :)