As I was thinking about what I wanted to share for the second Summer Loving post, I remembered that I had a couple of jars of goldenrod dye left over from last Fall. Since I don't have any more white yarn to dye, I thought that tie dyeing some clothes with the natural yellow dye would be fun. Tie dyed shirts just shout, "freedom, sun, laid back Summer fun!"
What you need: natural dyes, rubber bands, white clothing to dye, a stainless steel pot and spoon
How to make it kid friendly: let them do the spraying and stirring. What kid doesn't love playing in water?!
After the shirts have been soaked in water, wring them out and put on the rubber bands. I had no predetermined idea for a pattern; I just let the little babe choose which rubber bands to use and I twisted areas of the fabric, folded the top over, and wrapped them tight.
Then I emptied out the water, poured the dye in, and let the little babe stir until she got bored. Since the dye is just goldenrod and alum, I wasn't concerned if she splashed a bit on herself. (Though I did not encourage it.)
Almost immediately, the white shirts turned yellow. And more importantly, stayed yellow even after the dye was rinsed off.
I wasn't quite sure if I had to let the shirts sit in the dye for a while or if I should rinse the shirts with the rubber bands on or off. I didn't know if the wet dye would bleed onto the white parts if I took off the rubber bands. So I pulled a typical Katie and just winged it. I drained off the dye, but let the shirts sit in the pot for two hours. Then I took off the rubber bands and rinsed the shirts until the water ran clear. Then I hung them outside to air dry for several hours before machine washing them, hoping the dye was set. As you can (barely) see from the photos below, the yellow color is very light. I only soaked the shirts for 5 minutes since I had an impatient stirring partner, so in the future, I will let the shirts sit in the dye for at least an hour.
This isn't a step by step tutorial for tie dyeing with goldenrod, because I already had the dye prepared (and I wasn't really sure what I was doing, so it was an experimental process!) This website and this website offer good information about tie dyeing with natural dyes.
Sometimes you just have to wing it and have fun. As I've said before, it isn't always about the end result, it's the doing that matters.
If you'd like to share one of your Summer Loving experiences, please leave your link in the comment section below. The third installment of the Summer Loving series will be on July 6th!