Custom Faux Batik Fabric

I was debating whether or not to make this seem really hard so that I look like a crafting genius, but I couldn't lie. It's so simple it's ridiculous!!!! I was part of a sewing contest and had to make something based on a color and this is what I came up with!

For this project I used a light pink 100% cotton and rit dye. Prepare your fabric according to the dye instructions. Lay out your fabric on a flat surface where nothing will be able to disturb it for a few hours. I laid mine out on our patio table on top of a cheap plastic tablecloth. Make sure to secure anything that you are laying your fabric on top of so it doesn’t blow around and land on top of your fabric. Which would be baaaaad!

See that regular old WASHABLE Elmer’s school glue up there? Take it and draw any design you so desire. Obviously I wrote “Think Pink” about a billion times. The design you draw with the glue will stay the original color of the fabric, make sure you take that into account.

Make sure it is COMPLETELY dry! I let mine dry overnight since the glue was so thick. It will look like this.

Now it’s time to dye it and make it fabulous! I didn’t follow the directions. Yep, that’s right, me…not following directions, craziness! I didn’t want to soak the fabric in the dye for 30 minutes because the glue would start to dissolve and basically ruin everything. So I made the dye super concentrated to dye it faster. Instead of mixing the pack of dye with 3 gallons of water I only used 1.5 gallons. Add your fabric, I swear that is dye and not a bucket of blood. Ew.

Keep a close eye on the glue and make sure it isn’t softening up. Take it out when the color looks good and rinse it following your dye directions. The glue will be all slimy and gross. My glue was so thick that I laid the fabric out again and scraped the big parts off with a butter knife and rinsed it again. Once it seemed like the glue was gone, I threw it in the washer on gentle and dried it with air only. I ended up with this fabulousness! Dying of cute!

Use as desired! I’d love to see any projects you make using this process, shoot me an email with pictures and I’ll feature you! Craft on! PinaforesAndPinwheels@gmail.com