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11/04/2005 01:59:00 PM · #1 |
I got some muslin at Walmart - 4.44/yard for 108" wide material - an excellent deal! I got 12 feet, so I have a HUGE piece of cloth.
I want it to look something like this:
I considered painting it, but that makes it heavy, not sure what paint to use ot how to make it stick (when folding/unfolding), and paint is not necessarly cheap, and with 2 cats, a dog and 2 kids under 5, not to mentiona wife, where to paint it (it is 9x12 feet - the size of a room!)
So i figure to dye it useing Rit dye. The only green they had was in the powdered form. I remember tye dyding something way way back in grade school. Not that i remember much of the details. Otherwise i have never died anything.
I guess to get a regular green cloth i can just follow teh directions on the package - but to get the mottled/variegated look I have no clue what to do or how - I assume it's possible though.
SO, anyone got any ideas on how to do it?
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11/04/2005 02:03:45 PM · #2 |
| Someone (I think Mavrik) once posted a goofy video on dying fabric. Lemme see if I can find it. |
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11/04/2005 02:04:38 PM · #3 |
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11/04/2005 02:50:58 PM · #4 |
I hate you!
I had to install Quicktime (i hate quicktime) to watch the video.
I may do it that way though.
To summarize:
lay out cloth in teh yard, spray until wet with hose.
Mix 1/2 your dye with 2/3 pint water, boil and mix on stove. Transfer to a spray bottle, spray the cloth evenly but randomly.
Mix up the rest of the dyd with 1/3 pint water, b=out in bottle and spray.
then dry - must go in the dryer to set the dye, but you might want to line dry it for a bit first.
I'l like to test this first...but I think it'll do the job acceptable well. I got 3 pacs of dye as I guessed from the pkg directions it'll take that much. Worst case i an always dye it solid black, right? or bleach it back out...
Dye and cloth only total $21.
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11/04/2005 02:54:12 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
I hate you!
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You're welcome. :P |
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11/05/2005 02:56:11 PM · #6 |
Well, I gave it a shot. What i have is one large olive drab backdrop.
I suppose i can add more dye even though it is dry, right? It did dry a shade lighter, so i guess i will have to repeat teh dyeing process. Or at least the dark treatment.
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11/05/2005 02:58:23 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
Well, I gave it a shot. What i have is one large olive drab backdrop. |
lol
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11/05/2005 03:13:25 PM · #8 |
Oh fun...
I've used a spray bottle of diluted bleach on dark colored T-shirts to remove color. Interesting effects can be achieved by folding the fabric (and blocking parts with stencils) and spraying the bleach. Then, quick stop the bleaching effect by dunking the fabric in a solution of baking soda. In your case, a kids swimming pool would be helpful. *** Try it on a small pieces f the fabric first so that you can learn the technique for the desired effect. |
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11/05/2005 03:19:58 PM · #9 |
Tie dying is exactly what it sounds like! You tie up the fabric usings string or thin rope and tieing it VERY tight. You wrap the string around the fabric and then dye it - I usually use the washing machine -it's a lot less messy!
Here's a link describing it in detail
here
Hope this may help someone
P
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11/05/2005 03:32:00 PM · #10 |
let it dry well..and see what you've gotten... then wet it again and add to darken places and let it bleed... I think how much you wet it will depend on the bleed of the colour. you can always just spray water with a spray bottle where you want to add colour, then spray the colour
you can always add a different colour also ..like a blue or yellow
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
Well, I gave it a shot. What i have is one large olive drab backdrop.
I suppose i can add more dye even though it is dry, right? It did dry a shade lighter, so i guess i will have to repeat teh dyeing process. Or at least the dark treatment. |
Message edited by author 2005-11-05 15:35:06. |
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11/05/2005 03:34:40 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
Well, I gave it a shot. What i have is one large olive drab backdrop.
I suppose i can add more dye even though it is dry, right? It did dry a shade lighter, so i guess i will have to repeat teh dyeing process. Or at least the dark treatment. |
Who said that?? Can't see anyone, just a green bush with legs!
Oh no! it's Prof_Fate!!
Steve
Message edited by author 2005-11-05 15:54:54. |
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11/05/2005 03:54:25 PM · #12 |
any dye system using potash will be much more color fast that RIT. RIT is pretty much crap, and will fade very quickly.
The reason professional looking backgounds are expensive is because the steam set the dye instead of drying it.
For more pro quality, without steam setting, maybe try this: //www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1796-AA.shtml
or this could be better than that for your purposes: //www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1930-AA.shtml
If you don't want to tie dye, try crinkling the fabric up, and dunking it in a shallow pan, or dunking spots in, drying and setting it, and then going back and dunking the whole thing evenly at a higher dilution. You may want to try it a few times on some cheaper fabric, or a swatch, until you get the technique down.
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