I am always interested in new crafting techniques, and when the folks at Design Dye offered me the chance to try out some paper coated with a safe, non-toxic, non-liquid dye that can be used to dye fabric I was instantly intrigued! They sent us their starter kit, and we used it for Mike’s Father’s Day present!
It was super easy to trace the kids hands onto the Design Dye paper and then cut them out, and to draw the letters and heart and cut them out as well. I did luck out with this particular shirt, because I wasn’t thinking about letter orientation. W, E, A, and D are all reversible/flippable, but I almost wound up with reversed letters! Draw letters on the paper (not dye-coated) side of the Design Dye paper to keep this from happening!
The kit comes with some prep spray that you are supposed to put on the fabric and let dry before you make the finished product. We did this with a navy blue shirt, but that didn’t work! I was thinking of the paper as iron-on patches, but it’s dye – so it won’t show up on a dark fabric! So we sprayed a white shirt of Mike’s I found in his drawer at the last minute, then ironed on while the spray was still wet. It worked all right, but I think it (combined with somewhat sloppy ironing) is why the design didn’t come out perfectly on the shirt. We decided to roll with it, because we like imperfect art. And we were supposed to be packing for our camping trip, not crafting… I do recommend spraying the fabric FIRST, letting it dry overnight, and THEN ironing on the paper. I do really like that you can achieve a gradated effect (see the letters for We and Dad) by applying more iron pressure at one end than the other. You want to make sure you are moving the iron back and forth to avoid bottom-of-the-iron dots (see Johnny’s orange handprint). You could make some incredibly elaborate designs using a craft knife, and I love that even a small child can safely cut out shapes from the paper that can then be applied to a shirt or bag!
What would you make with Design Dye?
We received the Design Dye Basic Fabric Kit to review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are my own.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
I only purchase with Pay Pal on the internet and I so wish Design Dye would accept that payment form…very interesting product.
Great suggestion. Hopefully they will add it as an option…
That looks like so much fun – I love the way it turned out – imperfections and all.
It was a fun project.
I love the paper cut look! I think we would have fun with this too!
I think you would make some VERY cool stuff using design dye!
This looks pretty interesting, I like how it turned out. Looks like Mike liked his present :)
Wow, there are so many new silkscreening methods that kids can do now to make custom tshirts. That’s so fun! What a nice Father’s Day gift!
I love all the different ways kids can decorate fabric, now!
Fabulous!! Did Mike get to wear it while camping?
Can you believe, after all that rush to get it done, I forgot to pack it! He has been wearing it since we got home, though :)
What a great idea! I’ve never heard of these but it sounds super easy for kids.
I think your kids would love it!
Great Father’s Day project! Despite the frustration, it appeared to have turned out nicely.
It would have been very easy if I had prepped correctly! But yes, we were all happy with the end result :)
I want to try it now! What a great idea.
Your family would have a blast with this stuff, I think!
How fun! That’s a very low-mess way to work with fabric dye.
Super low-mess! Just a little bit of planning ahead of time, and only works on lighter colored fabrics :)
Thank you for the nice Father’s Day present, sweetie!
We <3 you :)