I love to dye fabric and summer is the perfect time to wear tie dye. I’ve been wanting to try the ice dye method for awhile now and was excited to find these sea turtles on white cotton jersey in my May KnitFix from Girl Charlee. I knew they’d be perfect for experimenting with ice dyeing.
I decided to dye the whole 2-yard cut of fabric before cutting into it to make an Asymmetrical Drape Top for myself. I chose to work with greens and blues to mimic ocean colors.
I used this tutorial from Dharma Trading Company. One thing they don’t mention is that “soda ash” is the same thing as “washing soda” that you can find in the laundry aisle (I use it to make homemade laundry detergent). The only other thing I did differently was to use Tulip brand powdered dyes because they’re locally available to me and I couldn’t be bothered to wait for shipping, haha! I have heard wonderful things about Dharma’s dyes, but personally haven’t tried them yet.
The ice dyeing method results in a beautiful blending of colors. When I scrunched up my fabric, I put the cut ends at either end and the selvages along the length of the rack. I then placed my dye so the darker blue was in the middle, green on the ends, and turquoise in between (on each side of the blue). I wish I had stopped to take a picture of my dyed fabric before cutting into it, but I was too anxious to get it sewn up. 😉
I knew that the bottom half of my shirt would end up in the darker blue section on both front and back. Getting a size 1x Asymmetrical Drape Top (which is a size down from my measurements) out of 2 yards is really tight and I had to cut the hip band in two pieces, but I just managed to squeeze it on.
I love the results and had fun trying out ice dyeing. My daughters loved helping with it and my oldest snagged some white fabric from June’s KnitFix and has it dyed and waiting to be cut and sewn … good thing she’s learning to do it for herself!
Happy Sewing!! ~ Joelle
3 Responses
Diane Cullum
I just LOVE this fabric and top on you! It’s so fun to dye fabric and have done it with my dd and ds in years past. We even pulled out some of our white cotton socks for the leftover dye. I haven’t tried an ice method but do have some new spray dyes that I’m dying to try, lol!
Joelle
Thank you! I love dyeing fabric and I tie dye with my kids every summer (shirts, shorts, dresses, socks). I was excited to try a new method and see how the colors blend!
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