![]() One blog mentions leaving it for 1-2 hours in the sun until the paint is dry. From reading, the time you have to let the paint set is much longer than with solar dye though. Wet the fabric, apply the paint, lay the leaves on top, and let it set in the sun. The steps are the same as with regular solar dyes. If you just want to try out the technique, give it a go! Though I have not tried it out yet, it might be a great alternative to using solar dyes that are sometimes hard to get at all. I have read that you can use other paints like acrylic or fabric paint. So, if this is the case in your project, don’t panic. Luckily, after a couple of days, the color set into a real teal and white on her fabric. Also, a reader of mine reported that her dye was a bit yellow (she used the teal color) instead of transparent. I’m still monitoring the fabric to see how much darker it will get, but until now it has developed a light blue color instead of the original off-white. The washing process strips away all of the dye that hasn’t yet been developed by the sun. I used a very short wash cycle and added some dark blue towels that would have gone in the washing machine anyway. You can add some dark towels if you don’t want to waste water. This is not enough!Īlso, don’t mix different sun-printing colors or they might stain your other pieces of fabric. I didn’t know about the fixator agent and just rinsed the dye out and washed it in the washing machine. Sadly none of the projects you see in this article look as crisp as in the pictures anymore. This is very important because otherwise, the remnants of the dye in the fabric will continue to develop further over time. ![]() Use the fixator agent of your solar dye agent to set in the colors. Don’t wash it with your regular clothes or the sun-dye paint might stain them. When the dye has reached the level of color you want, take away all the plant matter and rinse the fabric quickly or put it directly in the washing machine. I had to learn it the hard way and now I have a bottle with a blue dye that has started to become green because I accidentally mixed in the other dye with the brush. ![]() Also, don’t pour back the liquid into the bottle again or the dye can start to react inside of the bottle. Either use individual brushes for each color or better pour your dye liquid in a separate bowl and use the dye from there. Important note: don’t use the brush to dip into the dye bottle if you are working with more than one color. This gives you enough time before the dye sets in even in a brighter room. However, it might be better to dye and lay on one piece of fabric after another instead of preparing all at once. You don’t have to be in a pitch-black room. If you are working in a bright room, the dye will begin to set in before you even have a chance to put your leaves on! I used my sun-blocking roller blinds and they worked great. Make sure to prep everything in indirect light or even better – in a dimmed room. When you apply the sun dye, make sure that you don’t have wrinkles in the fabric or they might cause shadows which results in fine lines in the dyed fabric later. I could not see a huge difference except at the edges that were less crisp with the wet fabric. To test it out, I sprinkled some water over one of the fabrics to see if I could achieve a watercolor-ish effect. They had the perfect size for my fabric and I tried to stay inside the panes with the dye.Īpply the sun-dye with a larger brush. To avoid making a huge mess and being able to transport the fabric easily, I used some glass panes from old picture frames. If you have some flowers left for this, give it a try! Because the flower petals are so thin, the sun partially shines through and leaves a hint of dyed fabric. I have seen people using flowers instead of sun-printing their fabric with leaves and it looks gorgeous. Pick different sizes of them to have a range of possibilities. ![]() Explore the different shapes of leaves and flowers. There were wheat grains (which I didn’t use), lime tree leaves with their little seed bobbles, little twigs from our overgrown hedge, and different sizes of sprouting twigs from the vinegar tree. ![]() I simply went outside and picked up what our surroundings in a 5 min range held. Things like fancy-looking seed capsules (poppy seeds) or grass can add interesting shapes to your fabric. Rather pick a little bit more than not having enough. The larger your fabric, the more leaves you’ll need. Pick leaves and flowersįirst, select a range of leaves and flowers to put on your fabric. Have a washcloth in reach to wipe away any accidental splashes. Since it is a dyeing process, make sure to cover your surface to protect it from the dye. ![]()
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