I spent a lot of my younger years in Bowling Green, Kentucky at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. I loved living in that part of the country. My family moved to Tulsa, OK when I was 10. Starting with my childhood I have been into different types of crafts. This is something I have carried with me into adulthood. I can do macramé. cross stitch, wire wrap crystals and tumbled stones and tye dye just to name a few.
When I was married, we decided to have the ceremony in Eureka Springs, AR. I had never been but my husband had. I fell in love with the area as it reminded me of my early childhood in Kentucky. A few years later in 2002 when my husband and I lived in Tulsa, we decided to move out of state and decided to move to Eureka Springs as we both felt at home in the community.
My husband has also always been artistic. He has been a professional printer, a professional photographer and a licensed tattoo artist. He has also done murals on friends walls that turned out beautiful. My professional life has revolved computer software. I have mostly worked on mid range machines, like UNIX. I will admit, I am a geek and proud of it :) Many of my days consist of working 8 hours writing code then spending another 3-4 hours at home working on various craft projects.
I had the opportunity to tye dye multiple identical shirts for my family to commemorate our bond when one of us moved to the west coast. They were a hit not only with my family but also reminded me how much I enjoy the process and decided to learn more complicated designs. Thankfully my husband likes to wear tye dye t-shirt and enjoys creating them.
We only use high quality Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes as they produce the brightest, longest lasting colors. We dissolve urea pellets in the water to create the dye. The urea is a humectant, or a moisture drawing agent, which keeps the cloth damp during the curing process as the colors will not fix, or permanently bind to the fabric, if the fabric dries out. The urea also helps bring out the bright vivid hues of the dyes.
There are occasions when a design requires a color to not bleed excessively. This is particularly true of precise designs such as a peace sign. We use a very small amount of Sodium Alginate or ground Kelp to thicken the dye..
Before a project can be started, the fabric needs to be washed in hot water using a professional textile detergent and no fabric softener. This will remove any sizing as well as remove any fibers, dirt, oil and other impurities that will inhibit the dye.
Once they are spun out, we set the washer to rinse and spin. While the water is filling, we dissolve Soda Ash in a container. Once the water finishes filling, the Soda Ash concentrate is added to the washing machine. This gives the shirts a good 15 minutes being agitated in soda ash water. The Soda Ash is what enables the dye to penetrate the fabric causing it to become permanent.
Now time to tye! We try to do several at a time so labeling is important. To dampen the fabric, we use a spritz bottle filled with Soda Ash solution. We use artificial sinew, rubber bands, dental floss and clothes pins to tye the fabric.
Once the project is tyed it goes to the dyeing station where it is carefully dyed according to the design. After the dyeing is complete, the project is put into a zip lock bag to ensure the fabric does not dry out and set aside for at least 6 hours to cure.
We start rinsing the shirt in cold water keeping the project under the water while the bindings are removed. When the water becomes clear the fabric is wrung out and put in the washing machine. When all the projects are rinsed and in the washing machine, we turn it on set on Hot using a professional textile detergent again. The benefits of using a textile detergent as a post wash is that it prevents bleeding of the dye. The detergent accomplishes this by keeping any loose excess dye particles in suspension to prevent staining other areas of the fabric. Being pH neutral, the detergent discourages loose dye particles from binding with the fabric.
We create every shirt with a passion to make a beautiful piece anyone would be proud to wear. We are constantly experimenting with new designs, recently came up with the Leaf design.
Don't see what you want? Let us know! We will work with you to design your perfect shirt!
