The Weekend was Great

It's so nice when weekends are relaxing. Sometimes they are stressful and I feel yards behind on Sunday right before the week begins again...but this weekend was great. We got a lot done and we rested a lot and the general mood of our house was calm and peaceful. It helped that my husband had this Friday off so we had a three day weekend and it was perfection. On Friday we did our grocery shopping and went out to ice cream. On Saturday we went to the local farmers market and the kids had Barton lesson and we all did a bunch of chores. I got all the laundry done! Sunday was church. 

I also got to tie dye some pieces I have been meaning to dye for a month or two. First I dyed a linen skirt and shirt a blue color. It turned out great. What was once a cream skirt and a light blue top that washed me out now are the perfect two piece set. I wore them to church today and felt fabulous. Becky even let me borrow her necklace which went perfectly with my outfit.

Then I mixed two dyes--a brown and a maroon--in an attempt to make a rust color. It didn't work, it made more of a purple (the pictures on my computer don't show the color correctly) but that's okay. I dyed two dresses, one cotton and one linen that I didn't like the original color of and now I have two amazing new outfits to wear next week, all for the price of a bottle of dye and some elbow grease. 

The kids each picked something to dye as well, even my husband joined in. We plan to tie dye more in the future it was so much fun. I'll take a picture of what the kids made soon and try to post it!

Another fun thing we did was, after decorating our new nature notebooks, we each drew our dream house. It was such a fun drawing activity and I loved to see what the kids put in their houses.

Here we have everyone's dream house. I totally googled a picture of a hobbit house to copy the layout of when I was drawing mine...

All in all it was such a good weekend and I'm ready for the full week of school we have planned and for all the hot weather. We have a day forecast for 87f next week...that's going to be crazy. And I have plants to plant. I may just give them to a friend...I don't know if I am up for a garden this year. 

I really need to make going outside a priority...but I keep getting caught up on alpha gal meal prep, house cleaning, homeschooling and being a potato while I drink tea that often the garden is the last thing on my mind!

Wearing

I made this cute hat the other week. I love the soft lavender color. It's also my first crochet hat that I've just made up on my own without following a pattern or anything. It was easier then I thought it would be.

Lately I've been leaning more towards crochet work then knitting. Crochet just makes a lot more sense to me right now. I don't even know why. I'm sure I'll return to knitting, and I do still dabble in it, but I've been crocheting up a storm this month. I've just been dreaming of totoro hats and maybe a pikachu hat and probably something that resembles a strawberry for your head...(or for your hands? I have not decided) anyway, the possibilities are endless!

I also hand dyed this awesome shirt at my tie dye party (two? three?) months ago. I never got around to wearing it until today through. Funny how that works out. Can I just tell you that I love it?

And yes, I'm still enjoying my cute bouncy haircut. It's growing out well. I shall re-cut it into the same design come spring, through. Because it totally suits my face and my fashion sense.

I hope you guys are having a good fall. Here is to some snow next month, yes? I honestly don't know if I'm ready. Fall always ends to soon.

Dress like Sky

Remember that dress I fixed? I tie dyed it! When I have a box of dye clothes tend to not stay white.

This is what I wore to church on Sunday. My scarf is from Denna back when I did a clothing swap. I love it because its so colorful!

What are you wearing today? 

Tie Dye

I love tie dying. However, I was skeptical about dying my Gunne Sax dress. It's a vintage item, and unfortunately the blue in the dress has faded over the years. It had to be dyed, or scrapped. But it was hard, even if it is still super beautiful--because it was just as gorgeous before.

I can't wait to wear it again.

Tie Dye and a Bust Fix

I haven't dyed anything in almost a month! I'm not buying Rit dye anymore, but last week I found three bottles on my shelf and decided to give it another go just to deplete my stock. (I now use Dharma Trading Dye, and I'll do a post about that soon)

Anyway, I found this super cute stonewashed denim dress from Target, on clearance for $8. It was a size 14, and definitely too big in the bust, but I knew I could take it in. The ultra light-blue color didn't really compliment my skin at all, and I really didn't like how you could barely see the cute embroidered design! So, I got out my last bottle of burgundy red RIT dye and dyed it.

Well, the color stuck all right, and it's beautiful; but it turned out purple. I am convinced that the makers of RIT dye must be really lax in either their labeling or they must not be watching their dye concoction at all. Maybe they'll just like, this one looks red, right? Perhaps its a huge running joke among the employees that people buy their dye that really is only one color with different labels all over it. My blue always turns purple too, and earlier when I googled this it seems lots of people have that problem. Either way, I'm still happy. I like purple, and I went in with no expectations.

The bust is still to big--it was really hard to get a picture showing you how the bust is falling off me, with out revealing myself all over the internet. The extra fabric that I'm pulling to the right just makes the top hang if I let go.And yes, in that picture I am wearing the dress fully zipped up, and still the the top is about four inches too big. Now, usually I'd just take in the sides--but this dress has a side zipper, so I can't do that.

What I did is add two strips of black elastic on the back, to pull it tight. It's still a tiny bit big on top, but nowhere near as loose as before.

Anyway, I love my new dress! The white design part didn't dye, of course, because they used polyester thread, so it shows up really well. I love it! And I can't wait to wear this to church on Sunday!

 

Have you ever dyed anything? Let me know, and give me some pointers! 

Tie Dye Update

I'm going to be totally honest with you guys. I've been making tie dye dresses for awhile now, and I can say that while I have improved, I'm still so confused. For starters, my giveaway dresses aren't fitting their intended! I mailed my third giveaway dress last Saturday, and we'll see if she has the same problem. I think I may have jumped the gun on this whole free dress thing before I had the knowledge and experience needed. Because of this, I plan on making totes for all my giveaway winners thus far. Ladies, expect your totes to mail out Friday. I am well versed in making totes, don't worry, it will have no flaws.

Furthermore, I've also been upset with the quality of the dye--my tie dye has been fading a lot when I wash my creations!

a giveaway dress attempt

I talked to one of my close friends who does tie dye almost professionally, and she told me its because I'm using cheep dye. She recommended that I purchase a dye kit. Therefore I have said goodbye to RIT dye and hello to dharma trading dye! Their kit was really expensive, about 50$. However, it says it dyes 40 cotton shirts--and I think its a good investment if it helps me get my colors correct, and I can't wait to try it!

Lately I've been so frustrated over the quality of the dresses I've created for my giveaway. I know that I can't expect perfection yet, but I want people to be able to wear what I make! To be honest I don't think I'm a good enough seamstress to be doing this. I can't figure out sizing. Every dress I've made so far has been wrong in some area! I want to make tie dye dresses and I want to make them correctly! That was why I wanted to do a dress giveaway, to work on fitting dresses and constructing them property.

another dress I made and dyed

So, I'm going to keep the giveaway on hold for awhile until I get a better grasp at fitting people to my dresses. Its harder then I thought, and today I think I've learned a valuable lesson. 

Another

I handmade another dress. This was supposed to be for me it turned out larger then I wanted. So I'll probably sale it in my shop! I love the pink.

 Of course I had to wear it with a kitty hat. My hat goes with everything :)

Since my husband was at work, I took my dress out for coffee at the Muse, and to the grocery store! I am learning so much making dresses for you guys, seriously! The winner of last weeks giveaway was Deanna. The giveaway is going to be on hold for awhile--I need to get caught up on making/mailing dresses.

 

My husband actually had memorial weekend off. We spent it together and had a great vacation! Its been six months since we've spent good, long quality time in each others presence, since he works so much. I enjoyed myself immensely and I love my man more every passing day.

I also mailed out my first giveaway dress last week. I hope she likes it.

Tie Dye Fail

So, you remember that giveaway I did last week? Well, the winner asked for a dress dyed purple! But for some reason, the cotton that I used was too thin, and the whole dress turned purple. Not dyed, just purple.

So I tried to dye it again, thinking that something was wrong with me. It turned a deeper shade of purple. And the lace turned a different color. Yay? So not what I wanted to happen...

Then I did what every artist probably does in moments like this: I pouted. And whined. And ate hummus. Then I played a video game for four hours. In my underwear.

After my tantrum, I feel better and am going to tackle the dress again! *I really hope it works this time* I think it was the thinness of the cotton, but I don't know. (Any ideas, you guys??)

Oh, and this weeks winner is Kathleen! I've already e-mailed you, Kathleen, and I can't wait to create a dress for you! I'm going to use thick cotton so there are no more tie dye mistakes. Well, my husband told me the purple color is really pretty, so I will probably sale these in my shop, since they are fine. Just not tie dyed.

For this week, I'm going to do something different for the giveaway. To enter, leave an encouraging comment below this post, and on Monday the 20th (yes, only one day) I'll pick a winner randomly! Please leave your e-mail too :)

Beth's Dress

So I had this amazing idea--to make a dress for my friend and then tie dye it!

Remember this dress I made? I used the same pattern when creating this outfit for Beth. (Except for, I used the pattern correctly this time...hah, take that, learning curve!) 

I've never actually tried to make a dress specially for someone, so I was really nervous. I like how it turned out, but will it fit her? Also, Beth, I forgot that you are a tad on the skinny short side (I mean, you are shorter then me. I always forget this because you have such a colorful personality) Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I forgot to take your height into consideration when sewing for you. Opps. This might need to be hemmed when you visit.

I hope you like it :)

And yes, I will be offering tie dyed dresses in my shop soon! "Soon" as in,  "I figure out how to get my sewing machine not to eat zippers". Twice. Gah! I'maworkinprogress.

Tie Dye

So since my sewing machine is broken I spent time yesterday tie dying a few vintage, repurposed and already handmade pieces for my Etsy shop.

I love tie dying. It makes clothing look so unique and gives it such depth and texture.

Have you ever tried to tie dye? If you want to know how I do it, you can check out my tutorial.

Experimentation

Last week I attempted to use a mixture of blue and green dye to tie dye some shirts.

The color turned steel gray! I was expecting a teal color...

I will have to research how to use dye correctly :) Anyone have any tips?

Verse of the day:

Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

This verse is the cry of my heart. I am seeking after God yet sometimes he feels so far...I have so many doubts and so many human desires, and yet I yearn to throw them all off and run after God, but so many things hold me back.

Bleach Dye

I've never tried reverse dying before, but when I found this navy dress at Goodwill I knew it needed a little something extra.

What I didn't realize is that the dress was made out of several different types of fabric that all lightened at different rates. I think this added even more depth to my dress, but if I could do it again I would try to dye each section separately.

I absolutely can't wait to wear it!

Green

I've been quite obsessed with green lately. Half my closet has turned into grassy hues...

When I saw this white shirt in my local thrift store, I couldn't stop myself from nabbing it and tying out some more tie dye!

What is your go-to color this summer?

How To Tie-Dye

Want to give dying a try? Here is all you need to know!
You will need:

• empty tubs
• gloves
• hangers
• towls

STEP ONE
Grab some tubs, one for each color. For this project, I used Rit dye from Walmart in three colors: red, pink, and blue (that turned out purple, btw). Fill your tubs with 1-2 gallons of HOT water (follow the water per part instruction on your dye)

STEP TWO
Insert color. I just winged it.

STEP THREE
Tie your clothes up and secure with some rubber bands, or simply dip the clothes for a nice gradient wash. If you want deeper colors, let it rest in the dye for 30 minutes.

STEP FOUR
Rinse the extra dye out of your garment in the sink until the water runs mostly clean. Keep wearing your gloves because the dye will still stain you! Then, hang them to dry. I hung mine in the bathroom.

You should wash them by hand the first few times you wear them so the dye will not stain other clothing.
STEP FIVE
Wear, and enjoy.