Tie Dye Shirts

One of the things on my summer bucket list was to tie dye shirts with the kids again.  The last time we did it, we did onesies for William!  I had gotten some cotton "crochet thread" that I wanted to dye, also.

This time Walmart had a cheaper dye kit.
(I think we should have used the Tulip brand at least for the blue)

Getting the shirts wet

Waiting is so hard

Dye is all ready

I helped Andy with the first color so he knew how to do it

Dan tried a technique of sandwiching the shirt between 2 boards

Will doesn't know that sometimes "less is more" ☺

We had some extra dye and 2 extra small shirts, so Emi and Andy got an extra

I was doing laundry, so I put the shirts on top of the dryer to "cook" a little

I wound off 50 yard hanks of the thread

Emi helping dye the thread

The hanks of thread all dyed

We still had extra dye, so I soaked the whole rest of the balls of thread and we dyed them, too!

Sitting for 8 hours

My threads

Ready to rinse

Rinse until it runs clear

So pretty!

All rinsed 

I had a sample "color catcher" so I put it in when I washed the shirts.
Look at all the color it "caught"!!

 The blue dye washed almost completely out!!  It was rather disappointing.  Look at the 2 pictures above with them on the edge of the tub to see how nice the blue was before washing!

Dan's shirts

My shirts

Sarah's shirts (Both of hers had blue)

Emily's shirts

Will's shirts

Andy's shirts

The rags we used to wipe up spills, etc.

My hanks of thread drying

Skeins of thread drying

Kids Clothes Week: Summer Edition

I wasn't sure that I was going to have time to participate in the Kids Clothes Week Summer Challenge so I didn't sign up.  I got a fantastic piece of camouflage fabric that screamed "Boys Cargo Pants".  I ended up working on them the week of the challenge, so I signed up on Day 2!

Day 1:

I figured on pattern sizes and traced off patterns.  The pattern I chose didn't have *any* pockets!  GASP!  So I had to figure those pattern pieces myself.  It also had bell bottoms that I straightened out. I had a pair of pants that fit Andy perfectly that I used as inspiration

Day 2:

I cut out all the pieces except the front pockets.

I used almost all the fabric.  This is all the scraps I had left!

Day 3:

This was my birthday and I wasn't home much.  When I was home, it was so hot I didn't feel like doing very much. I worked on picking the hem out of a sheet I was going to use for the pockets (It gave me another 1½ inches!)

Day 4:

Pocket day!

Pocket pieces

I wasn't sure if I'd get the pockets done after all.  I had a son who wanted me to play with him!

Who could resist such a cutie?

But then his favorite show came on (Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood) and he went to watch that, so I worked on the pockets after all.

Day 5:

I was hoping to get the cargo and back pockets sewn on, but doing the front pockets took longer than anticipated, so I didn't get them on.

Side seam sewn

Velcro added to the cargo pockets and flaps

Day 6:

Attached the pockets and sewed the inseam.

Day 7:

Finishing touches: Crotch seam, hems, and waistline.