DIY Dipped Table Runners

My daughter has been asking me for a paint party with all the colors. She is so excited helping me plan all the details. So we decided table runners in different colors would be cute...So here they are

You'll need:

• Fabric preferably 100% Cotton (I used 2.5 yards for 6 runners)
• Tie-Dye kit OR RIT Dye in color (s) of choice.
• Scissor or Rotary blade
• Straight Edge (unless you can straight lines one your own...)
• plastic or glass container

If NOT using a Tie-Dye Kit

• rubber bands
• gloves (totally optional...)

(These items came with my kit)

THE PROCESS

1. Cut Fabric into 2 long strips, no measuring necessary. Leave the fold in your fabric as it came off the bolt and cut the 2.5 yards of fabric in half at the width. You should now have 2 long strips of fabric.

2. Take one of the strips you cut in Step 1 and fold it into thirds vertically. Make a small slit mark at the fold. The easiest way for me to cut the long piece into thirds, was to first unfold the fabric after making the slit mark. Refold horizontally and cut at the slits using your straight edge and rotary blade or scissors. In the picture below I placed the ruler where the slit mark was. Hopefully that made a little sense. You should now have 3 runners. Repeat with the second strip of fabric to end up with 6 runners.  

 

Here is what the runner looks like after 

3. Roll them up like a taco and secure with a rubber band. 

4. Mix your dye according to packaging directions. My directions were as simple as filling the bottles with water and shaking.

5. If you haven’t already, pour your dye into the container of your choice. Make sure it is small enough to give you at least an inch of dye to dip into.

6Dip one end of the fabric in and watch it soak up the dye!

7. Hold it there for a few minutes... then repeat on the other end. 

Don't you just love my assistant...I DO!

8. Remove from Dye, allow to sit a few minutes before laying it out.  This is what makes it less likely to get unwanted spots when unrolling...a lesson I learned the hard way....

9. Unroll let dry, If you have a heat gun you can speed up the process and also help set the color. 

10. Repeat with each color. I needed Orange, Yellow, Lime, Turquoise, Pink and Purple. As you can see there is no purple in my kit. I just mixed the Pink and Turquoise to get purple.

****If you want and ombre effect, there are two things you can do....

• Use RIT dye! The RIT dye gives that effect on its own….You’re good!
• If using a Tie-Dye kit, start with a very shallow puddle of dye, dip one end....then the other....then add a little water and dip again until you reach your desired level of ombré.