This project is really a combination of two fun crafts – you can either try both as in the tutorial below, or break it down – make some simple no-sew bunting to decorate your home, a summer gathering or even your tent if you go camping over the summer, or, have some fun playing with natural tye-dye using things you might have in the cupboard or fridge at home.
In our house, no summer is complete without a tye-dye project of some kind! One summer we ran a series of sharpie-tye-dye t-shirt workshops at PowerWood camp which were very popular, where the children and young people came up with some truly wonderful vibrant and colourful designs. There are many ways to tye-dye – we enjoy sharpie tye-dyeing for its mess-free nature and the fact that it’s possible to work on a project in stages (you can do a bit, leave, come back to it etc). I have also used Tulip dyes in the past and they have very vibrant colours, but I tend now to only use those for super special occasions/projects because of the plastic bottles they use. So for this project I thought I would suggest natural dyes that can easily be tried at home using supplies you might already have or can be easily found in the supermarket.
If you do choose to have a go at natural tye-dyeing, it’s a case of having an experimental mindset and being open to the vast array of different results you might end up with! One of my personal favourites is dyeing with turmeric – not least because I have a small obsession with the colour yellow! There is plenty of information about this online, and we found this website very useful.
If you are handy with a sewing machine, feel free to sew your bunting instead, but the super-handy trick for this project is this high-tack non-toxic glue that dries clear and flexible, but with a strong bond. It is very inexpensive to buy, and can be used for many different projects. It turns this bunting project into something super-simple and easy to do!
The tutorial below goes through all the steps to include tye-dyeing. If you want to just make the no-sew bunting with other fabrics of your choice, simply skip steps 2 & 3. If you want to just have a go at tye-dyeing without making bunting – why not choose an old t-shirt to tye-dye bright yellow with turmeric? It’s something lovely to do on a warm summer’s day and looks beautiful hanging in the sunshine to dry!
Happy Crafting!
© Abigail Cole 2020
For more creative ideas visit www.forgetfulfairyartstudio.com
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