DIY: TIE DYE NAPKINS
Last year, the our friends at Knot & Pop produced a fun-filled tie-dye festival inspired party in the English countryside. Ever the makers, we got our craft on for our clients and made hundreds of hand-died napkins, blankets and throws to theme in with the creative party theme that we carefully curated – you may have seen the images on BLOVED last week (click here if you missed it!)
Bringing a sense of uniformity to the hippy tie-dye trend we used Japanese Shibori, an ancient dyeing technique that is all about creating distinctive patterns in shades of deep indigo blue. Gorgeous patterns are created from a resistance to the dye from binding, twisting, folding and tying up your fabric using particular techniques. There are thousands of different Shibori techniques so we’ve focused on 3 napkins with 3 treatments, Itajime, Rings and Triangle Accordion.
Follow our step-by-step tie-dye tutorial to recreate the look yourself!
ITAJIME TECHNIQUE
YOU WILL NEED:
- 100% cotton or linen napkins
- 2 x squares of wood
- Rubber bands
METHOD:
Fold the napkin into an accordion shape
Fold the napkin in the other direction, again, into an accordion shape to make a square
Place the square of napkin in between the two squares of wood
Bind with rubber bands to keep the napkin in place
Your bundle is ready to dye!
RINGS TECHNIQUE
YOU WILL NEED:
- 100% cotton or linen napkin
- Rubber Bands
METHOD:
Bunch up a small wad of fabric
Seal with an elastic band
Repeat the process on other areas of the napkin
You can add an elastic band to some areas to create more rings
Your bundle is ready to dye!
TRIANGLE ACCORDION TECHNIQUE
YOU WILL NEED:
- 100% cotton or linen napkin
- Rubber bands
METHOD:
Fold the napkin in half
Fold one of the top corners over itself to create a triangle point
Fold the triangle point down to create a flat edge. Repeat the folding process until you end up with a triangle
Bind the edges of the triangle with elastic bands
Your bundles are ready to dye!
TO DIE YOUR BUNDLES
YOU WILL NEED:
- Indigo Tie Dye Kit (containing indigo dying agents, rubber gloves & stirring stick)
- Buckets
- Water
METHOD:
Mix the dye according to instructions on your tie dye kit pack
Stir the dye then cover with a lid and leave for 15-30 minutes
Whilst your dye is working its magic, dip your bundles in warm water and squeeze out any excess.
Once your dye is ready, gently submerge your napkin bundles. Leave to dye for 10-15 minutes
Remove the bundles from the dye and leave to sit out in the air. As it oxidises, the bundles will turn from green to indigo blue
You can unfold your bundles any time after you’ve taken them out the dye. The longer you leave them folded up, the more ‘bleeding’ you’ll have in the end result. Watch your patterns emerge as the colours darken.
Once your patterns have fully oxidised and dried, wash in cold water, dry and iron to set the colour. Et voila!
To see the napkins in action check out our Tie-Dye Festival Fun party.
