Dying with Inkodye

 If you've been around the blog awhile, you've probably noticed some recurring themes in my DIYs. Namely, fabric paint, stencils, and dyes. Paint is my favorite medium with dye coming in a close second. This project uses a sun-activated ink, called Inkodye (check it out here), and a stencil. Shoutout to a Mr. Zachary Mink for supplying the dye! This was my first time using Inkodye and I did not have enough ink to do a practice run. I am pleased to report that the ink is easy to use. Even for newbies.

My best friend from high school has a birthday coming up and she is obsessed with Pocahontas so I decided to make a Pocahontas silhouette stencil. I found a picture I liked online, traced it onto a white piece of computer paper, cut it out, traced it onto a black piece of construction paper using a white crayon, and then cut it out again. Inkodye activates in sunlight, so I wanted to block out all of the ink from the sun except for the Pocahontas silhouette. I figured black paper would do the trick. I still had a few light leaks, but it worked pretty well.

The Inkodye comes in these little packets that you just bend in half to break open. I know the red dye is pictured, but I used blue for this project. I placed a piece of cardboard between the layers of my shirt to prevent the ink from bleeding through. After watching a video of the process on Lumi's website, I decided to squeeze the ink out of the packet into a disposable container and use a foam brush to apply the ink to my shirt. I felt like I had more control over the ink application this way. I was sure to apply the ink to my shirt in a dim corner in my room. Then I smoothed my stencil down over the inked area, making sure that the details of the silhouette would lie flat and stay in place.

 Now it's time for the sun to get to work! I brought my shirt outside and let it sit in direct sunlight for about 10 minutes. It's so cool to watch the ink activate! It works quickly and the longer it sits the darker it gets. Because of how quickly the ink activates, it's important to have the stencil in place before you bring it outside. I didn't fully cover the area that I inked so I have some random blue blobs, but I actually like how they look so I got lucky.

After I brought the shirt inside, I brought it down to the basement before removing the stencil to prevent further activation. Lumi recommends washing the shirt with their Inkowash, but I used a bit of regular laundry detergent, washed the shirt on cold, and dried it normally and it seems to have worked just fine. Washing and drying the shirt makes the ink permanent and safe to wash with other garments.

I love how this turned out! I like that I have more control over what areas get dyed with Inkodye vs. using a traditional dye. It allows for greater project possibilities! I would love to try using a photo negative for my next dying experience. What design would you dye?

Bleach Painting

 I might have an addiction to painting clothing. Maybe. But I'm okay with it. Bleach painting is a really simple process. This is hardly a tutorial, but more of an idea for you to try. You only truly need 3 items: a darker piece of plain clothing, bleach, and a synthetic paintbrush (so the bleach won't eat away the hair of the brush). When I picked a design, I decided using a stencil would be the easiest way to make a crisp design. I made a stencil using this process. If you want to freehand your design, try drawing it out in chalk on your material first for a guideline. I think unicorns are pretty rad. Mostly because of Agnes from Despicable Me. I mean, come onnnn. Too much cute. But you can do anything from quotes, song lyrics, tribal prints, animal silhouettes etc. The sky's the limit! Go wild.

I suggest painting in a well-ventilated area because you're using bleach. If you have sensitive skin wear gloves and if you tend to be messy, don't wear any clothing that you would mind getting bleach on. I poured a small amount of bleach right into the cap of my bleach bottle and centered my stencil. Then I just filled in my design with bleach. I reloaded my brush every inch or two until the design was fully saturated. The color will start to change almost immediately so you'll see if any areas need more bleach. When you're done, bring your fabric outside. The sun will speed up the activation process. Let the bleach dry completely, rinse to get rid of any excess bleach, then wash normally.

Distressed and Painted Shorts DIY

 I acquired a pair of jeans for 97 cents a little while ago from Old Navy. They were a bit too big for me so I knew they'd be perfect for a DIY project. I decided to turn them into shorts, distress them, and add some spray paint just for funsies.

 To turn them into shorts, I laid an existing pair of shorts that I liked the length of on top of the pants as a guide of where to cut. If you're going to roll the bottom of the shorts, be sure to add a few inches to the length. It's always better to start longer and cut more off as you go until you reach the desired length so err on the side of caution here. I followed this method for distressing the jeans. I got a bit lazy with it so my distressing is more minimal at the moment, but I figure they'll get more distressed over time. To add to the worn/distressed look I haphazardly spray painted sections of the shorts. There's really no method to this. The more random the better. After the spray paint dried completely, I rolled the bottom of the shorts twice and hemmed the sides and the middle of the back to keep the fold in place.

Stencil Sweatshirt DIY

 In a few weeks I'm going on a beach vacation with my family. I am dreaming of sunshine, ocean waves, and warm (sand beneath my toes, the beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling. I believe in the faith that grows And the four right chords can make me cry.) Third Eye Blind just gets it. But I digress. Here is a relatively simple and customizable (my favorite!) DIY. You will need: posterboard (or some other thick paper), a plain sweatshirt, an exacto knife, fabric paint and brush, a ruler and a pencil. I thrifted my sweatshirt to save money and in case I hated how this project turned out, but I don't. This sweatshirt turned out awesome!

1. Figure out what you would like your stencil to say. Pinterest is a good place to look for ideas. I went with the dream life, vacation mentality, but you do you.
2. Decide how much of your sweatshirt surface area you want to paint, and cut a coordinating sized piece of poster board. I had scraps of poster board lying around so I had a few different pieces.
3. Use a pencil and ruler to plan out the spacing of your stencil. I had five lines of text so I made my letters  about 2.5 inches big with a quarter inch of space between each line.
4. Draw out your block letters on the posterboard. I free handed mine so they aren't perfect, but I like the slightly messy look.
5. Use the exacto knife to score the letters. You may need to go over them several times. Make sure you do this on a hard surface. The letters should be easy to pop out when you're done. Depending on how much text you have, this is a bit time consuming so you may want to do it in stages.
6. Place cardboard or folders in between the front and back of your sweatshirt to protect against any leakage.
7. Tape the corners of your stencil down on the sweatshirt then get painting! Just follow the instructions on your fabric paint for how to set it and wash it.

 I really love how this project turned out! I'll admit, I was skeptical as to how well my stencil would hold up, but it did a great job. I'd love to do another stenciled sweatshirt, but maybe of a ship this time, or a cute animal silhouette! If you decide to try this DIY share your photos!

Leather Pocket DIY

 

 You might remember this popular sweater-to-cardigan DIY I did several months ago. Well, I finally got around to making pockets for it. One of my goals this year was to learn to work with leather. My parents got me a bag of leather scraps for my birthday, a book about working with leather, and some basic tools. Turns out there are a bunch of different kinds of leather. Who knew? The scraps I have are garment weight so I was able to use my regular sewing machine, but you can't use pins when working with leather because they leave holes. To keep my leather pieces in place while I was sewing I used a bit of krazy glue because that's what I had on hand. Rubber cement seems to be recommended as an adhesive, but I think that's for heavier weight leathers.

1. Make a paper template that suits the size of your sweater. I settled on a 5"x4.5" rectangle.
2. Select and arrange your leather scraps making sure you provide enough surface area for your template.
3. Use a little glue to keep your leather pieces in place and sew the arrangement.
4. Place your paper template on top of your sewn together pieces and cut out your pocket. I found it was easiest to use my rotary cutter and mat for this process.
5. Determine where you want the pockets to be located on your sweater, then sew them in place.
6. Flaunt your leather pockets and DIY skills!

Simple Saturday// Lace Back Sweatshirt DIY

 I realize it is summer and as such it is quite hot and heavy outside. So why all the sweater posts?! Because I actually have time to do the projects now. And besides, nights cool down and a sweater may come in handy. This particular sweater DIY is more summer friendly anyway, as the entire back is replaced with a panel of lace. You can show off one of those cute bandeau bras! I had this sweatshirt lying around, having already removed the back panel for a different project and was wondering what I should do with it. Well, I found an inexpensive lace tablecloth at Amvets and thought it would look perfect with the sweater! Here's what I did:

It's a pretty easy project. Cut out the back, pin in the lace, sew and wear! The most difficult part is some of the maneuvering with the sewing machine simply because sweatshirts are a bit bulky, but this project can easily be completed in less than 2 hours. Happy sewing!