Color Me Crazy Sewing Camp

 

Same dye vat but different results

     Color Me Crazy Sewing Camp was part messy fun and part sewing.  The girls did several different techniques with color, some on ready made items and some on fabric that we then made into projects.

Anna Catherine and her tie-dyed t-shirt

Autumn and her tie-dyed t-shirt

     The first thing they did was with a white t-shirt.  They used multiple colored Sharpies and placed a design on the t-shirt as it was rubber banded over a cup.  They then dropped alcohol with a dropper and watched the colors spread.  They experimented with swirls and dots and dropping the alcohol in just the center or dropping it all over.  

Anna Catherine and her pillow

Autumn and her pillow

      They then drew with glue gel onto their white fabric which we had cut to be slightly larger than we needed to make their pillows.  After the glue dried (we placed it in the sun) we mixed up a batch of dye.  They dyed their fabrics and then rinsed them.  It was shocking to see how different in color they turned out to be.  Not knowing the fiber content of either one, I would have to say they were different fabrics even though they looked the same.  I washed and dried the pieces to get rid of the glue and they had some really cool fabric to make their pillows.  Unfortunately Autumn's fabric was a bit too small so we had to improvise and add a piece of white in the center to make it large enough.  Not a mistake, but a design opportunity that she really liked.

Anna Catherine and her backpack

Autumn and her backpack

     We also used the glue gel to draw on a heavier canvas like fabric which we then painted with watered down acrylic paints.  After getting rid of the glue again, the girls added some details with the Sharpies and then sewed a backpack  Instead of grommets for the corners, they sewed buttonholes.  

Marbled fabrics

Autumn's coin purse

Kate's coin purse

     Then they used shaving cream and dyes and made some marbled fabric.  The first fabric had brighter more distinct colors while the second was a bit more mottled.  On the fourth day, Anna Catherine couldn't be there so Kate, Autumn's friend, came in her place.  Kate made her marbled fabric using the rest of Anna Catherine's shaving foam after adding a little more dye.  Then they made their coin purses.

Autumn's bleach stencil

Kate's bleach stencil

     The last thing they did was using a black t-shirt.  They placed a fabric stencil on the shirt and then with a bleach pen, filled in the areas they wanted to bleach.  Neither girl used all of the stencil which was fun to see.  We also tried spraying the scrunched up bottom of the t-shirt with bleach but nothing really happened, I think it was too dilute.  

     They had some extra time so they experimented with fabric and Sharpies and the alcohol to make more designs.  One of the fabrics was a print, so it was fun to see what happened with that.

     If I do this camp again, I would have them do all the glue painting the first day so it would have time to dry overnight instead of trying to force dry it in the sun or with a hairdryer.  I think the girls had fun doing something more than just sewing.