Day 19 - With Gradient Dyeing tips

Well, I was working Friday and Saturday all day so I didn't have a chance to get much done except a few things in the evenings. The front of the tiara is now all glued as one piece and has the gem in place. To do this I used epoxy glue. 

(Excuse the creepy expression) 

Today I did my gradient dyeing. I've been waiting to do it outside because my Mum would have slaughtered me if I stained the kitchen tiles -_-' Unfortunately it literally rained everyday last week so I was only able to do it now. 

This is the final product drying on the washing line.

 And this is the first attempt that I really buggered up :/

 And this is a result of my being forgetful and not methodical

So I've decided to write down a couple of tips that I found quite useful today. First of all this is the tutorial I used: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO4_ghePq9E This girl seriously makes it look so easy XD But it looks like shes done it a few times before and has a lot more control than I :/ Also in this video shes using a light pink dye (on a bit more fabric) which I imagine isn't as potent a colour as my navy blue one -_-' So heres the tips! Some of them may seem really obvious, but I kept forgetting to do some of them, hence the splodges.

1.The failed one was because I did the 1/6th bottle that she suggested and dunked it in. It was seriously a lot stronger than I had thought, it was not a 'very pale solution' because this is not a pale colour! This resulted in a really harsh dyeing line and not the nice smoothness I wanted so I used some spare fabric and started again. In the end I used about half of the bottle  3/4 bottle including the re-dye to make it darker. (I've got some left just in case I need to do it again, if the design doesn't cover up the splodges, which I think thankfully it might.) Also I did this one bottle cap of dye at a time, to ensure I didn't over do it.

2. Do it in your garden if your not used to this process, in the end I made a fair bit of mess!

3. Be careful of splash back when putting your bottle cap of dye in. First of all in your face :P, and second of all up the sides of the bucket. Just rinse the sides of the buckets before dunking it in, the fabric WILL stick to the side of the bucket.

4. Keep a bucket of clean water nearby to RINSE YOUR GLOVES EVERY TIME YOU STICK YOUR HAND IN THE BUCKET OR TOUCH THE DYE BOTTLE!! Its because I forgot to do this that I ended up with splodges where I'd been holding it (and the sides of the bucket thing.)

5. And finally, literally dunk it and keep moving it up and down to keep the dye even and to reduce the risk of heavy lines. Also go over previous areas slightly when the dye gets a little more concentrated. This will help keep it smooth! Don't just let it sit in the dye, keep it moving.

Well I hope the helps. If you have any questions about this process, please ask!

-Update- Its just come off the line, and it was a lot lighter than I expected so I've done it again with a more concentrated solution this time just to darken it a bit!