More TD Ideas

Cord Wrapping Ideas: To be followed by bundling, Wetting fabric through with warm salty water, Squeeze out lightly, Put in zip close bag, Boil bag for 20 - 30 minutes, Rinse thoroughly, & Dry

Sunburst: An effective way to make a sunburst is to put the center of the fabric over a broomstick ( or similar diameter object). Wipe the fabric downward with your hand and put rubber bands at approximately 4" intervals securing the fabric to the broomstick, but more importantly holding the creases in place. Take chosen color cords and cut into 2" or 3" pieces, insert the small pieces into the creases of your fabric so they are not exposed. Take another color and wrap the cord around the fabric in a spiral manner around the fabric at one end of the sunburst, (use as much or as little of the cord as you want, tie it & cut off excess). Move up the starburst (leaving some space) repeat with another color cord. Once you have wrapped all the color cords that you want slide the broomstick out of the fabric. (you can repeat this procedure on multiple areas of the same fabric to get many different sunbursts).
Smaller Sunbursts: You can also make sunbursts by simply pinching up areas of the fabric and wrapping different color cords in a spiral manner.

An other method is to simply cut the color cords that you wish to use to any size you like, lay your fabric on a flat surface and put the color cords wherever you want. Now beginning on one side of the fabric roll the fabric into the center, then go to the other side of the fabric and roll into the center. Remember the outcome depends on you cord positioning & folding, so have fun with it.

STONEWASHING METHOD: NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FIRST TIME DYING

Materials Needed:

2-3 Quarts of Water ( 1 adult shirt or 2 children's)
6 Color cords ( of the same color or with black cords to give a faded color)
1 Tablespoon liquid Soap
1 Cup ordinary white Flour
2 Tablespoons Salt
Gloves
Apron
Pan to hold 2-3 qts. of water

Preparing the shirt for Stonewash: No Heat Required
Measure 1 quart of water into a pan, add 1 Tablespoon of liquid soap. Measure 1 Cup of ordinary white flour and shake gently into the water, while stirring. Stir thoroughly until all ingredients have dissolved.
Immerse the shirt into the pan, completely wetting the shirt, push and swish it around in the pan. Then take the shirt out of the pan, put over the sink wring and squeeze the water out as best you can. Immerse the shirt in the pan again, swish around, remove and wring over sink again. Continue to immerse and wring into the sink until the pan is empty. Wipe the pan and excess flour with the shirt. The main idea is to have the flour distributed over the entire shirt, or fabric. Hang the shirt on a clothes line (or non staining coat hanger) bottom side up. With one hand on each side of the shirt, run hands up and down to press the flour into the shirt ( at this point you could also lay the shirt flat and use a comb, brush or newspaper to make swirls and designs in the stone washing mixture on the shirt). Let the shirt hang upside down and dry for about 24 hrs, or until the shirt is "Stiff as a Board". After the shirt has dried stiff, take it down twist and wring it lengthwise. Now your ready to dye it.

Stonewash Dying: 6 Color cords either all the same color or add 2 black cords to make the color more faded:
Red = 4 red, 2 black
Blue = 4 blue, 2 black
Orange = 2 red, 3 yellow, 1 black
Green = 3 yellow, 2 blue, 1 black
Violet = 3 blue, 2 red, 1 black
Etc.
Perfecting the colors may take some trial and error

Place the 6 cords into a good size pan that will hold about 2 quarts of water. Add 2 quarts of water and stir for a few minutes, add 2 tablespoons of Salt, stir. Hold the shirt bottom side up. Gently immerse the shirt into the water, separating the folds so that the water touches all surfaces of the shirt, ( its ok if the shirt folds up again, but the object is to have all surfaces of the shirt touch the dye bath by gentle movement of the fabric) Turn the heat on and bring to a light boil over a period of 30 minutes. DO NOT STIR, but gently push the surface part of the shirt under the water with a spoon a couple of times during these 30 minutes.

Rinsing: Remove the shirt from the pan, be careful not to spill the liquid. With rubber gloves and protective clothing, place fabric into the sink. Run some cold water on it to cool off the shirt. Rinse shirt gently several times to remove excess dyestuffs. Then dry ( If the shirt dries stiff, soak wring, and re-wash to remove the flour. Many designs will appear as the shirt dries.)