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You are here: Home / Archives for DIY

DIY

May 31 Day Fashion Blogger Challenge: Day 16 – A customised item

May 19, 2012 By Julianne

Actually this post is about two customised items, because I dyed both these shirts at the same time. I used one pack of Dylon Fabric Dye for Hand Use in Intense Violet and put both shirts in together but as they were made of different materials and were different colours, the results were drastically different.

The above shirt is a cotton/lycra blend, and was originally white with green hearts. The hearts stayed green but the white fabric became the quite bright purple you can see here. The stitching must have been synthetic as it stayed stark white. I really want to change the buttons on this so that they match the purple, because now the shirt is purple the white buttons look really stark and cheap.

This one is a polycotton, so the resulting shade is much less vivid. Originally it was light grey with dark grey stripes, hence the lovely heathery lilac it became.

I love the results but I think I’ll use machine dye in future because I got so fed up of all the stirring, and even though I stirred it regularly and often, the result is still a bit patchy in places. I had to use the washing machine to rinse out the dye because it was taking me so long to do it by hand, so I think I might as well do the whole process in the machine!

Have you ever dyed an item of clothing or an accessory? It’s really easy and a great way to make old clothes exciting again! Both of these shirts were looking a little worse for wear before I dyed them – the first one was from a charity shop and had a light brown stain on it which was disguised quite effectively by the dye, and the second was a hand-me-up from my sister that she used to wear to school.

Filed Under: DIY, Fashion and Style Tagged With: DIY, dye, dyeing, fashion, May 31 Day Fashion Blogger Challenge, purple, style

Recycling Yarn

October 18, 2010 By Julianne

I found a lilac cardigan in a charity shop that wasn’t really my style – or my preferred shade of purple. It was just dull. Little sleeves with ribbing at the bottom, and more ribbing around the base of the body. The rest was garter stitch. I would have left it for somebody else, but it had a couple of marks on it, so was very low-priced, and when I looked at the label, I saw that it was a cashmere and silk blend. Ding! Yes please! So I took it home, washed it to get the musty smell it had out, and started to unravel it.

The best instructions that I could find come courtesy of Dawn at My Virtual Sanity. There are a number of different websites and blog posts about recycling yarn, but I found this post had the most helpful photographs and detailed information. The author actually recycles yarn for resale, so that was encouraging.

It took me a few days to get through the entire cardigan, because the repetitive winding movement made my hands ache after a little while and I had to keep resting. But I persevered, and was rewarded with several balls of luxury yarn at a low cost. I’m still not sure about the colour, I’m considering dying it Dylon’s Burlesque Red, but I will wait until I knit it up into a new garment and see what it looks like. I’m not sure how dark the yarn will go when it dyes, as the Dylon website says silk and wool come out a lighter shade.

The yarn is light fingering weight (3 ply) so I’m reluctant to try knitting it into another cardigan as that would take ages and be quite repetitive, plus I’m not sure that I have enough yarn left for that. I had to lose quite a lot because the buttonholes had been cut into the fabric, and the cardigan only had short sleeves to begin with.

I searched Ravelry for appropriate patterns, and when I saw the Travelling Woman shawl I gasped. It’s so pretty, and I think it would look lovely in red. Or purpleish pink, however the yarn turns out. I think I’ll give that a go, unless anyone reading this has any suggestions?

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: bargain, charity shopping, crafting, knitting, yarn

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Hi! I'm Julianne and I have so many different passions I have to be relentlessly organised to keep track of them all! On this blog I document my current obsessions and share my tips for juggling multiple interests while maintaining your creative energy. I believe that advanced planning brings advanced peace of mind - so join me, and plan to succeed in everything you do! More...

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