Dying baby clothes

[dianaj]

Hi,

I'm a super beginner and I need some advice about dying really small articles of clothing.  I've noticed when I make my spiral shirts  for my 9 month old, my complementary colors always mix to brown no matter how careful I am when applying.  I follow the color wheel but for the last couple of shirts my purple mixed with green(yuk!) or my orange(superyuk!)  He doesn't mind, but I do.

Is it best to just stick with 2 or 3 colors when tie dying small things?

[Marg]

I never dye baby clothes but have you ever tried applying the dye with a syringe or foam brush so you can put less dye on the fabric? I think that's what I'd try. Good luck, Marg

[ktaltre]

You could also thicken the dye a little with alginate.
k. talte

[deb]

How small a tip are you using to apply the dye? Might not be giving you enough control.

Also, for that very reason I'll often avoid complementary colors; saves me finding overlapped colors I want to avoid. Also, deliberately leaving some white space between colors helps; if I do a spiral, for example, I might dye alternating segments. It makes for a nice crisp clean look.

And yes, 2-3 colors for small stuff is plenty. You can use maybe 2 primaries and enjoy the combination where it happens.

[dianaj]

Thanks Deb, for the advice. 

I'm just using normal squirt bottles 8 oz and 16oz that I ordered from Jacquard or Dharma.

You are probably right about the tip.   I might try a syringe.

I think the main problem is just using too many colors.  I just can't get them all into the middle spiral-it's just too small.

I also started making the spiral off center and this is even harder to dye.

I'll try to simplify

Thanks, Diana

[tiedyejudy]

Hi, Diana.  I have found that t-shirts are too small to get a good dye job for under size 2T, but rompers work great!  Here's a sample of what I have done on a romper:


I used 6 colors on this one.

Judy

 

[deb]

Ahh.... someday I'll manage that many colors in a spiral without making a muddy mess! Beautiful, Judy!

I also do other patterns, like hearts or stripes; easy to do lots of colors without worrying so much about mixing the wrong way.

[dianaj]

WOW!

Judy your my hero!

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Diana