Since I was tie-dying with a camper group, I ended up with the last pick of t-shirts, and therefore I got an extra-large t-shirt. Since the shirt is so big on me, I decided to have fun altering it to make it cute-sy. I’m sure people do this all the time, but I never have, so here’s what I did.
I cut the shirt up the sides, all the way up to the arm pits. Then I took one side of the t-shirt, with the two pieces still on top of each other, and cut strips all the way up, about one inch apart. I did the same thing on the other side. Then, I tied all of the strips together, so it looks like little bows or whatever all the way up the sides. I plan on tying back the sleeves as well, since they are so big. I’ll probably end up using hair ties to do this, but I wish I had ribbon. I’ll get to show off my farmer’s tan. =P Add a cami underneath, and I’ll be all good to go!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tie-Dye!
So over the weekend, I tie-dyed with a bunch of high schoolers. They really seemed to enjoy it, and I always love tie-dye. My favorite part is taking off the rubber bands and finding out what your design looks like!
Here’s what you need to do tie-dye:
- Water
- Dye
- Bottles
- Gloves
- Rubber Bands
- Something to tie-dye
Other helpful but optional items:
- Buckets
- Plastic Grocery Bags
- Plastic table covering
- Preservative (Like vinegar)
Here’s what you do:
1. Take your t-shirt (or whatever you’re tie-dying) and rubber band it according to which pattern you want. See below for the three I know how to do.
2. Soak your t-shirt in preservative (like vinegar). If you don’t have any, just soak it in water.
3. Use the bottled tie-dye (follow package instructions to prepare) to dye your shirt. You will need a lot of dye for your shirt to turn out well – even if every part of the shirt you can see is dyed, the rest of the shirt may not be. This is especially true for the swirl pattern. Any white showing means a lot of white showing when it’s unraveled later. So basically, the more dye the better. You might want to do this over a bucket to prevent spills, and even so, a disposable plastic table covering might help as well. Make sure you have gloves so your hands don’t end up looking like Easter eggs.
4. Place your shirt in a plastic bag to dry, or just leave it out somewhere (perhaps in a bucket) to dry.
5. Wash your shirt. If you have a washing machine available, wash the shirt by itself in cold water. I wouldn’t advise washing whites in the next load. If you don’t have a washing machine available, wash the shirt in a sink until the water runs clear. Don’t take the rubber bands out for this, as it will cause the dye to run to the white parts of your shirt. Leave shirt to dry again.
6. You’re done! You have a happy tie-dyed shirt.
Types of tie-dye:
- Swirl - This one is my personal favorite. It is the classic tie-dye look. To get this effect, lay the t-shirt (or other item) flat. Choose where you want the middle of the swirl to be, and pinch the fabric there. Twist your hand around so the fabric follows in a swirl pattern – don’t lift your hand as you go, and don’t force a pattern. The fabric should do it on its own. You may have to guide the sleeves into place though. Once you have a cinnamon-roll looking t-shirt, rubber band around it, as many times as you want, however you want. Picture below!
- Stripes – Accordion fold your t-shirt, and rubber band where you want each stripe to begin and end.
- Bulls-eyes – Pinch parts of the shirt up and rubber band them, so you have a bunch of rubber-glove-finger-looking-things all around the t-shirt. Wherever you do this, you will get a cool bulls-eye effect. You can also combine this with the swirl effect by swirling the middle and doing this on the outside.
Here’s what you need to do tie-dye:
- Water
- Dye
- Bottles
- Gloves
- Rubber Bands
- Something to tie-dye
Other helpful but optional items:
- Buckets
- Plastic Grocery Bags
- Plastic table covering
- Preservative (Like vinegar)
Here’s what you do:
1. Take your t-shirt (or whatever you’re tie-dying) and rubber band it according to which pattern you want. See below for the three I know how to do.
2. Soak your t-shirt in preservative (like vinegar). If you don’t have any, just soak it in water.
3. Use the bottled tie-dye (follow package instructions to prepare) to dye your shirt. You will need a lot of dye for your shirt to turn out well – even if every part of the shirt you can see is dyed, the rest of the shirt may not be. This is especially true for the swirl pattern. Any white showing means a lot of white showing when it’s unraveled later. So basically, the more dye the better. You might want to do this over a bucket to prevent spills, and even so, a disposable plastic table covering might help as well. Make sure you have gloves so your hands don’t end up looking like Easter eggs.
4. Place your shirt in a plastic bag to dry, or just leave it out somewhere (perhaps in a bucket) to dry.
5. Wash your shirt. If you have a washing machine available, wash the shirt by itself in cold water. I wouldn’t advise washing whites in the next load. If you don’t have a washing machine available, wash the shirt in a sink until the water runs clear. Don’t take the rubber bands out for this, as it will cause the dye to run to the white parts of your shirt. Leave shirt to dry again.
6. You’re done! You have a happy tie-dyed shirt.
Types of tie-dye:
- Swirl - This one is my personal favorite. It is the classic tie-dye look. To get this effect, lay the t-shirt (or other item) flat. Choose where you want the middle of the swirl to be, and pinch the fabric there. Twist your hand around so the fabric follows in a swirl pattern – don’t lift your hand as you go, and don’t force a pattern. The fabric should do it on its own. You may have to guide the sleeves into place though. Once you have a cinnamon-roll looking t-shirt, rubber band around it, as many times as you want, however you want. Picture below!
- Stripes – Accordion fold your t-shirt, and rubber band where you want each stripe to begin and end.
- Bulls-eyes – Pinch parts of the shirt up and rubber band them, so you have a bunch of rubber-glove-finger-looking-things all around the t-shirt. Wherever you do this, you will get a cool bulls-eye effect. You can also combine this with the swirl effect by swirling the middle and doing this on the outside.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friendship Bracelets with Words!
I taught a bunch of high schoolers how to do this today - it's a bit hard to pick up, but if you are good at other friendship bracelets, you should be fine. =)
For this bracelet, you need eight strings of your letter color. These strings don’t need to be as long as normal friendship bracelet strings, but they can be if you want “just-in-case” room. You also need a suuuper long string for your background color. (I'd suggest one the length of your wingspan to start with, and then tie a new string on as needed). You may just have to tie a new one on – this string is used for most of the bracelet.
For this bracelet, instead of working in rows, you are going to use your long, background string to work back and forth. The first row, you work forward with forward knots as usual, and for the second row, you work backwards with backwards knots as usual. You work back and forth with this. You need a pattern for the words – here’s the one I like to use, from friendship-bracelets.net.
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I’m going to use the letter ‘A’ as an example for this. Assume you are working forward when you reach the letter ‘A’ – You are making these side-ways, by the way. Assume your letter strings are labeled 1-8, and I am going to call the background string, ‘b’. Make one forward knot (by knot, I mean your normal two-knot thing) with b on string 1. Then, make a backwards knot with string 2 on b. Make a backwards knot with string 3 on b. Continue making backwards knots in this fashion until you reach string 7. Make a normal forward knot with string b on strings 7 and 8. Now, working backwards, make a backwards knot on string 8, with b. Make a forwards not on b with 7, make a backwards knot on 6 and 5 with b, make a forward knot with 4 on b, and make backwards knots on 3-1 with b. Now working forwards again, make forward knots on 1-3 with b, a backwards knot on b with 4, make forwards knots on 5 and 6 with b, make a backwards knot on b with 7, and make a forward knot on 8 with b. etc.
To sum it up, if you are moving forwards, to make a background color, make a forwards knot, and to make a letter color, make a backwards knot. Reverse this if you are moving backwards.
It says "MOUSE" because that's my camp name.
For this bracelet, you need eight strings of your letter color. These strings don’t need to be as long as normal friendship bracelet strings, but they can be if you want “just-in-case” room. You also need a suuuper long string for your background color. (I'd suggest one the length of your wingspan to start with, and then tie a new string on as needed). You may just have to tie a new one on – this string is used for most of the bracelet.
For this bracelet, instead of working in rows, you are going to use your long, background string to work back and forth. The first row, you work forward with forward knots as usual, and for the second row, you work backwards with backwards knots as usual. You work back and forth with this. You need a pattern for the words – here’s the one I like to use, from friendship-bracelets.net.
To sum it up, if you are moving forwards, to make a background color, make a forwards knot, and to make a letter color, make a backwards knot. Reverse this if you are moving backwards.
It says "MOUSE" because that's my camp name.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Braid-Pattern Friendship Bracelet
This is the most complicated friendship bracelet. You must do this one with four colors/eight strings. For this one, you definitely want to measure longer strings – for medium-tightness or loose knots, use your “wingspan” as the measuring point for this. You can go a bit shorter than that for tight knots.
Order your colors in order – for example, red/red/blue/blue/green/green/yellow/yellow. Make five forward knots with the first string (red number 1). Make four forward knots below that with the second string (red number 2). Make three knots below that with the third string (blue number 1) Make two knots below that (blue number two). The string order should now be green/green/blue/blue/red/red/yellow/yellow. Now, do the same thing backwards (with backwards knots). You should use yellow 1, yellow 2, red 1 and red 2. Your new order should be green/green/yellow/yellow/red/red/blue/blue. Continue working back and forth with the 5-4-3-2 pattern until you are done.
Up next: Friendship bracelets with words
Order your colors in order – for example, red/red/blue/blue/green/green/yellow/yellow. Make five forward knots with the first string (red number 1). Make four forward knots below that with the second string (red number 2). Make three knots below that with the third string (blue number 1) Make two knots below that (blue number two). The string order should now be green/green/blue/blue/red/red/yellow/yellow. Now, do the same thing backwards (with backwards knots). You should use yellow 1, yellow 2, red 1 and red 2. Your new order should be green/green/yellow/yellow/red/red/blue/blue. Continue working back and forth with the 5-4-3-2 pattern until you are done.
Up next: Friendship bracelets with words
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
V-Pattern Friendship Bracelet
For this bracelet you probably want at least three colors. I prefer three colors/six strings, but it would probably look cool with four colors/eight strings as well. You must have two strings of each colors, or else your bracelet’s going to look awfully weird. If you are using more than six strings, you may want to make your strings a little bit longer to make a full bracelet.
Set up your strings like this:
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Take the first string (orange) and do normal knots as you would for the diagonal bracelet. Do this on the first green and blue strings. Leave the bracelet like this. Now you are going to take the far orange string (the one you haven’t used yet), and make a backwards knot – make a backwards “L” this time. Do the same two-knot thing on each string until you reach the middle, working backwards. Then, do two knots on the original orange string. You have now completed the first “V” of the bracelet. Repeat this whole process with the next color, etc, until you finish the bracelet.
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Note: It is especially important that the middle knot (where the same colors are used, example orange/orange) is tight.
Up next: Braid-pattern friendship bracelet
Set up your strings like this:
Note: It is especially important that the middle knot (where the same colors are used, example orange/orange) is tight.
Up next: Braid-pattern friendship bracelet
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Diagonal Friendship Bracelet
I’ve known how to make these for a while, and my friend (who also works at a Girl Scout camp) taught me the more complex patterns. I just recently figured out how to make ones with words (which are super cool!), but that’s for another post.
To make the diagonal bracelet you can choose as many colors as you like – the more strings you have, the fatter it is. If you want a two colored bracelet, I recommend two or three strings of either color. If you want three colors, you should use two strings of each color. For four colors and up, you probably only want to use one string of each color, but it’s up to you. Each length of string should be about as long as from the palm of your hand to your armpit – it’s usually a good indication of what will fit your wrist. How accurate this is will depend on the tightness of your knots though. Tie all of these strings together at the top – it is helpful to make a loop at the top, but not necessary. Just remember to leave enough room that you can tie the bracelet on when you’re done.
For the example, I’m using four strings. If you have multiples of the same color, splaying them out with the colors next to each other (red/red/blue/blue) will create thicker stripes. Alternating the colors (red/blue/red/blue for example) will give you the normal thinner stripes. Take the first string (blue in the example) and make an “L” with it over the next string (red in the example). Tie a knot as shown. Do this twice (total of two knots) on the second string (the red one). Then, do this two times on the next string (the yellow) and two times on the last string (the green). Now, the blue string is the last string. Don’t worry if your first row looks weird – it always does. Just keep going. Now, repeat the whole process with the now-first string (red). Repeat, repeat, repeat, until you are done with your bracelet!
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Note: Make sure you hold the string being tied on (the red, yellow, green in the first example) tightly – the color of the knot should be of the one you are working with (blue in the example). If it isn’t, pull the string you are working on (red/yellow/green in the example). To make it easier to work with, you probably want to secure the end of the bracelet to something. Popular ways of doing this are: taping it somewhere, attaching it to a water bottle and placing that between your legs, safety-clipping it to your pants, tying it to your toe, and clipping in your cell phone.
Coming soon: V-pattern bracelet, braid-pattern bracelet, bracelets with words!
To make the diagonal bracelet you can choose as many colors as you like – the more strings you have, the fatter it is. If you want a two colored bracelet, I recommend two or three strings of either color. If you want three colors, you should use two strings of each color. For four colors and up, you probably only want to use one string of each color, but it’s up to you. Each length of string should be about as long as from the palm of your hand to your armpit – it’s usually a good indication of what will fit your wrist. How accurate this is will depend on the tightness of your knots though. Tie all of these strings together at the top – it is helpful to make a loop at the top, but not necessary. Just remember to leave enough room that you can tie the bracelet on when you’re done.
For the example, I’m using four strings. If you have multiples of the same color, splaying them out with the colors next to each other (red/red/blue/blue) will create thicker stripes. Alternating the colors (red/blue/red/blue for example) will give you the normal thinner stripes. Take the first string (blue in the example) and make an “L” with it over the next string (red in the example). Tie a knot as shown. Do this twice (total of two knots) on the second string (the red one). Then, do this two times on the next string (the yellow) and two times on the last string (the green). Now, the blue string is the last string. Don’t worry if your first row looks weird – it always does. Just keep going. Now, repeat the whole process with the now-first string (red). Repeat, repeat, repeat, until you are done with your bracelet!
Coming soon: V-pattern bracelet, braid-pattern bracelet, bracelets with words!
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Easiest Friendship Bracelet
This is the best friendship bracelet to introduce to elementary-school kids, because it’s easier to pick up. It also uses the same knot as every other friendship bracelet, so it’s a good introduction to making them.
Gather as many strings as you want for this one – I would recommend at least three. Tie them together at the top, leaving a loop if you so desire. Then, make an “L” with the first string, as shown below.
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A fun thing to do with this type of bracelet is to take six strings, two each of three colors, and tie them all together at the top, but then create two separate three-color strands. You can “tie” these together in the middle, and then continue to make separate strands. It looks cool, and is easy and fun.
Next up: Diagonal Friendship Bracelet
Gather as many strings as you want for this one – I would recommend at least three. Tie them together at the top, leaving a loop if you so desire. Then, make an “L” with the first string, as shown below.
Then, pull the string under all of the other strings, and tie a knot, as shown below. If you see a color other than theone you are working with (blue in the picture), hold the bracelet down, and pull hard on the colors you are not working with. Repeat this as many times as you want (maybe around 10 times or so), and then switch colors, and continue to do the same thing.
Next up: Diagonal Friendship Bracelet
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