Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Dyeing Fabric Flowers

Dyeing Fabric Flowers
by Michelle Hoffman


Supplies
Fabric flower from Pretties Kit
Small stamp container
Paper towels
Spray bottle
Reinkers- 1 light color with 1 contrasting color
Paintbrush or Watercolor brush
Tweezers
Step by Step
Step 1
In small stamp container, add a few drops of water or two sprays of water from a spray bottle. Add approximately five drops for medium to dark colors, and ten drops of the lighter colors.


Step 2
Swirl the reinker and water so they mix. Then add your fabric flower in to the mix.



Step 3
Using your tweezers, push the petals down into the mixture for even coverage. When you are satisfied with the shade, take the flower out of the container and lay on triple folded paper towel.
*Note: You do not need to turn your flower over as the ink will saturate both sides.

If you do not want to add shading to your flower, skip step 4 to step 6.
Step 4
Taking your contrasting reinker, add a couple of drops to the lid of the stamp container.

Step 5
Dip a fine tip paintbrush or watercolor brush in the reinker and apply it to your flower, starting from the flower center and going towards the tips of the petals.

Or for a different look, apply the contrasting color with the brush along the edges and tips of the petals.

Don’t panic at the major contrast in colors. The next step will dilute the color.

Step 6
Mist the flower with one spray from a spray bottle and use the watercolor brush to smooth out the color. This will help disperse the color evenly.

Step 7
Set the flower on paper towels to dry. The colors lighten as the fabric dries.


After the flower is dry, you can add more color to the flower if you want. Just repeat the steps mentioned above.

Additional suggestions:

Add an embellishment to the middle of your flower for a finishing touch. A brad, button or bead will work nicely. If the flower does not have a hole in the center, use a 1/16” circle punch to add the hole. Then attach your brad through the hole.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for these! my florist has been looking on a guide on how to dye fabric flowers.

Anonymous said...

Michelle, really nice tutorial...great job, my friend.