Shibori Print Dress

This is a sponsored post from I Love to Create for the Blueprint Social. #tiedyeyoursummer #tdys

Today, I have a fun oldie-but-goodie craft with a new twist!  I received a package of white T-shirts and beautiful tie dye colors as part of Tie Dye Your Summer.  I put on my thinking cap on how I could make something completely different and it came to me... a Shibori Print Dress!

I decided to make it an ombre dress with more saturated colors on top, down to almost white at the bottom.  I love how easy it was to make this dress with the Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye and I definitely want to make a few more items of clothing using this technique.  Want to see how I did it?  Read on for the tutorial!

Shibori Print Tutorial
What You Will Need

• Item of clothing suitable for tie dye, prewashed  (dress, shirt, PJ pants, etc. made of 100% cotton, rayon, or silk)
• Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye, your choice of your color
• Rubber bands (included in kit above)
• Gloves (included in kit above)
• PVC pipe or something similar  (See note below)
• Plastic wrap
• Protective surface

Before I begin with the step-by-step tie-dye directions, here's a look at what my dress looked like, crafted from the two oversized white T-shirts.  If you want to do make same thing, check back next for next week's tutorial!

Directions

1. Gather your supplies!

2.  Set up your work surface in a place where you can leave your project for up to 8 hours.  I covered a bin with a plastic trash bag.

3.  Slightly dampen your item and wring out any excess moisture.

4.  Wrap your project around the pipe.  I used the cardboard tubing leftover from fabric bolt, because that is what I had on hand.

Note:  If you wrap your project starting from the bottom of the dress like I did, you will have vertical stripes.  For horizontal stripes, wrap the project starting from one side.  Experiment with diagonals as well!

5.  Add a couple of rubber bands to each side of the pole once finished wrapping.

6.  Scrunch your fabric as evenly and as tightly as possible.   Scoot the rubber bands down the pole to help secure your fabric.  If necessary, wrap a rubber band around any loose pieces of fabric, but it will block the dye from that portion.

7.  Mix the dye according to the directions, making sure to wear rubber gloves, replacing the cap tightly, and shaking until dissolved.

8.  Apply dye on the fabric, make sure dye has penetrated into folds.  Do not over-saturate fabric.  I used roughly 1/2 of the bottle on my one dress to create the ombre effect.  If you want something more saturated, use more dye.  For a smaller garment, use less!

9.  Cover dyed fabric with plastic wrap to keep damp.  Let set 6-8 hours or longer for most intense colors.

10.  Fully rinse dyed fabric in warm water until all extra dye is removed and water runs clear.

And that's it!  According to the Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye Kit directions, you should finish with the following steps:

"Fill washer to large load setting with hottest water suitable for the fabric and a small amount of laundry soap. Wash and dry separately. Wash separately the first few washes. Do not allow dyed fabric to rest wet on other items."

Check out the I Love to Create blog and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for more tips and project ideas!

Overall, I am pleased with my dress, and I can't wait to whip up a few other versions in different colors, but first I have a shibori print Dolman top in my future.  The hardest part will be to figure out what color I want to make it!

What is your favorite Tie-Dye project?