bandanas

[colorfulsteve]

for the art show im going to i wanted more of a variety than just shirts so im going to dye bandanas too. i dont know if theyll be a hit or not but it will at least give more of a variety for my costumers. what do you guys think? have you ever tried dying a bandana before?

[hometowntiedye]

Bandannas have always been a big hit for us.  I usually get the triangle ones from Dharma as they are cheaper and less fabric and basically the exact same except you do not have to fold it in half before putting it on. 

Also mention to people that they are great for dogs, People love to dress their dogs and these are simple and cheap way to do that.

One thing I have learned from many years of fairs and shows, is to not be shy, and say hello and greet each person that comes to your booth or even ones just passing by, it really draws them in. 

Good luck hope it goes well for you.

[tiedyejudy]

I always try to have some bandanas in my stock... they are a great low-priced item, and quite often it's kids who buy them because they are affordable.  I agree they are great items for dog lovers as well!  One thing I usually do is dye two together to save time and effort.
Judy

[colorfulsteve]

i didnt even think about using them for dogs. thats a great idea

[brixter]

Hey Steve! I've done a bunch of bandannas for a local merchant here in Butler. A easy fold that gives awesome results is to fold the material like you fold a mandala... then with the resulting triangle lying flat on the table spin the point end backwards and roll into a disc. Wrap a few rubber bands around it..just tight enough to keep it from unwinding, then apply the dye. You'll end up with a feathery looking mandala that takes very little effort. I like to apply the dye in a slight spiral to make the points of the mandala more pronounced. I'll add a picture of one. If you're interested and need better directions just say the word. These take maybe 2-3 minutes to fold up and I think I used 4 colors.

[tiedyejudy]

Wow, Ken!  That's awesome!  I'd love to see how you do that... in fact, that would be a great one to add to the tie-dye wiki!
Judy

[Releaf]

Ooo...I love that feathery mandala!

Bandanas are big sellers for us, too.  Just about anybody can afford a bandana.  (My spell check wants an extra "n" in bandana, but I looked it up -- either spelling is correct.  The extra "n" seems like overkill to me.) We order ours from Dharma and we've tried the white ones (CBSET) and the natural ones (NCBSET).  We prefer the white ones because the hems ravel too much on the natural ones. 

[colorfulsteve]

Hey Steve! I've done a bunch of bandannas for a local merchant here in Butler. A easy fold that gives awesome results is to fold the material like you fold a mandala... then with the resulting triangle lying flat on the table spin the point end backwards and roll into a disc. Wrap a few rubber bands around it..just tight enough to keep it from unwinding, then apply the dye. You'll end up with a feathery looking mandala that takes very little effort. I like to apply the dye in a slight spiral to make the points of the mandala more pronounced. I'll add a picture of one. If you're interested and need better directions just say the word. These take maybe 2-3 minutes to fold up and I think I used 4 colors.

those are awsome!! please go into more detail!

[Hippy Dippy]

I made some back in February to give as gifts.  They go well with Labradors.

These were made with Dharma's triangular bandanas:

[deb]

How timely! I have a slew of the 16x16" ones from an old Dharma order and I have craft shows beginning next weekend.... 

Thanks for the tips - I also wouldn't have thought about bandanas for dogs, OR of doing two together. 

[fiberartist219]

I sold some bandanas last night. It was hot out and my first customer wanted something to wipe her head with. 

[brixter]

I made a couple bandannas to show the process I use to make these mandalas. In the first photo I have a handkerchief which was pre-soaked in soda ash and wrung out (I usually use the washing machine to spin out my victims but since I was only making these two for an example I just hand wrung them), They've been folded in half,1/4,1/8, and 1/16 as you usually fold a mandala. In the second photo, while the material lies flat on the table I started spinning the material back from the point (the rubber band was used to hold it while I took the photo to show how it was spun backwards, this rubber band was removed as I continued). The third photo shows the completed folded handkerchief. As you can see it's a fast easy process. I made two of these to show how applying the dye in a spiral following the spin of the cloth makes the points of the mandala grow longer. In these examples I used 3 colors. I wanted to get this posted tonight so I put the pieces in the microwave to speed up the process. The pointier of the two mandalas shows the effects of my impatience as the dye didn't set very well in the middle of the folds but I think you can see what spinning the dye along the folds does to the pattern. I've used this same technique to dye things from as small as this to as large as a king sized sheet, in fact this makes a very cool sheet set!

[brixter]

This is the handkerchief that had the dye applied in color wedges from the center of the cloth.

[brixter]

This is the handkerchief that had the dye applied in a spiral following the spin of the fabric. It's not a great example of what these usually look like but it does show how the mandala gets more pointed as you spin the dye. I applied the dye with the same color on both sides of the material in the same places. Like I stated before these two are far from being good examples of what you can make twisting a mandala fold like this but i hope it explained the process. I'd love to see what you all come up with!!

[Jaja]

Nice! I'd say this is in fact spiral fold on pizza piece
I've did it only on realtively thick t-shirts, on thin fabrics it looks much more delicate. Thanks for sharing.