Let's have some fun together with dye this year, but make it virtual!
I'm planning to break out some dyes and techniques that I want to practice and perfect, and I thought it would be fun to have some friends join (virtually!) and share the process and product of what we find to feed our creativity with as we use dye techniques. Want to join? Yay-hooray!!! The more the merrier!
I'm setting aside the week of June 15-21 to make and share projects. And let's face it, I'll probably keep adding even after that!
What will we be doing?
Dye-ing! Anything that involves adding or altering color on fabric, paper, yarn, wood, or something else that you'd like to use is welcome.
Here are some ideas:
Tie-dye
Indigo Dyeing
Shibori Folding or Stitching techniques
Bleaching (ooooh, and then adding some color back to the bleached areas?!)
Dye with Kool-Aid
Batik
Cyanotype
Eco Dyeing
Natural Dyes
...you get the idea!
Ok, but How are we doing this?
Choose a personal project for this week. Maybe you are brand new to the idea of adding or altering color--awesome! Just for you (ok, and for me, too, because I will forever be finding new things to try) I have created a Pinterest board with some ideas to get our brains storming.
--I am choosing to mix up an Indigo Dye Kit and fold and prep a whole crazy pile of items (shirts, napkins, socks, and whatever else I get my hands on before this week comes!) to dye with some shibori techniques and get the Pickles involved. This is a favorite activity of ours.
--I also have some yarn that I'd like to get dyed up using Kool-Aid dye (yes, just the drink mix packets and some vinegar and water. You can see how we've done that before HERE.
and HERE!)
--I love using good old Elmer's School Glue for a simple version of batik style dyeing. We did this while many of the Pickles were quite young and it was a great project to do together. We decorated pillowcases and a fort. I also used this activity once upon a time for a kids' summer camp, and they did t-shirts.
--Natural dyes will always have my heart to extract the beautiful hidden array of colors from plants and nature. If this concept is new to you but intrigues you for your project, check out that Pinterest board again for some helpful links! Also check your library for Wild Color by Jenny Dean for my favorite book resource to make natural dyeing easily understandable. Now that I type this, I remember that I have a bag full of avocado pits saved in the freezer. Mayyyyybe, I'll add this to my week...
Maybe you are already an experienced dye-er and you have more ideas and techniques you want to try or repeat and share with all of us. You might already have your project planned and just needed a little goal set on the calendar to 'get 'er done'. I'm so happy you're hanging out with us! (And by experienced, I mean you may have made tie-dye t-shirts in middle school or you have your fine arts degree!) Use the comment section to share ideas with the rest of us, or suggest links to add to that Pinterest board. I cannot wait to learn and see new things!
Sooo, since we arn't meeting up together to share our projects in person, how is this going to be a virtual event?
Take photos, or videos, or create a social media reel, or write a poem if that's your best style, but simply document your project. We all love "befores and afters"! I also love the middles. It's all fascinating!
You can share your process and/or project on Instagram (if that's your thing) and tag me @feedingpickle so that I can share it with everyone there. (Send me a message if your page is private, or I won't get to see that you tagged me!)
You can e-mail some photos to me at feedingpickle@yahoo.com and I'll share on social media, this blog post, and in the next newsletter! (I may not be able to share every photo through these outlets due to size constraints, but I'll add as many as possible!) Plan to send me the photos by the 21st of June.
The idea and goal of this dye week is to be low in stress, and high in excitement and curiosity as we play with color and enjoy the process of simply being creative.
Have questions? Have ideas? Let's chat in the comment section and be creative today together!