Making a heart, how?

[jenerations]

I am a semi-experienced dip (immersion/vat) dyer but have note done much direct application of dyes in the traditional tie-dye sense. I'm wondering in particular how do replicate something similar to this heart pattern, if this was done with tie dye techniques. Thanks for any help!

http://www.cwdkids.com/servlet/quagga/girls/product.jsp/_qprm_/browse?groupId=11516&itemId=E682&cat=girls-swimwear

[steve]

Take a t-shirt and fold it in half vertically--from the collar to the bottom of the shirt. The front should be enclosed in the fold for best results. Take a transfer pencil or a children's washable marker and draw half a heart on one side of the shirt. Make the heart a bit exagerated in shape--particularly at the cleft and point.

Make an accordion fold along the line forcing it into a straight line starting with the cleft--carefully keeping the tops of the pleats even. Bind the fabric along the line--again--keeping the binding tight, but making sure it the pleats remain even and flat as you tighten. I usually push down with the palm of my hand as I cinch the string tighter. Make additional bands perhaps an 1-1.5 inches out from the initial line.

Apply the dye first to the heart, then to the bands, and finally to the bleed area beyond the bound bands--carefully keeping the other colors from getting into the original heart area.

I hope that makes sense. Feel free to ask more!

Steve

[tiedyejudy]

I usually cover my dyed heart with a small piece of plastic wrap, and hold it in place with a small rubber band before applying the dye to the rest of the garment.  This prevents splatters.

Happy dyeing!

Judy

[jenerations]

THANK YOU, thank you! I practiced on some scraps this morning and take a look, it worked!  

Suggestions for improvement always welcome.  I folded one of them damp and the other 2 dry, but I lost track of which was which. Also, I used rubber bands and I got some migrating of the colors past the bands (ex: the point of the last heart), maybe I should try string next time?

I love learning something new, thanks so much!

pics on practiceboard:  http://www.practiceboard.com/?3528459

[steve]

Suggestions for improvement always welcome.  I folded one of them damp and the other 2 dry, but I lost track of which was which. Also, I used rubber bands and I got some migrating of the colors past the bands (ex: the point of the last heart), maybe I should try string next time?

It is always easier to fold damp fabric, at least in my experience. It's one of the first things I picked up at the defunct forum.

I tend to use smaller pleats with this fold and work real hard to keep them of uniform height so that none of the taller pleats "hide" the smaller ones.

String will give you much more control of the binding and keeps the pleats neater.

If you want to reduce migration, try thickening your dyes with alginate and be extra careful with the flow of the dye, only allowing as much to flow from the tip of the spout as can be absorbed by the fabric immediately.

All that aside--they look great. I like the one in the middle best!

Steve

[mysticmountainsmama]

I agree with the above points and I also I pull out the bottom and top (tip and V areas) so that I can deal with these areas more carefully. I pull them flat instead of being in the accordian fold, get what I mean?

[ecilA]

http://tie-dyewiki.com/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Heart

Finally got one tutorial on the wiki from shirt to finished dye.  I'll be posting images of dyeing the other style I showed in the tutorial and a finished dye of that style soon (I hope )