I got a great stash of neon products from i Love to Create to inspire a fun project. And I adore neon. So of course I end up with a project that looks very un-neon. (But I still love it…) This tie-dye rag wreath will take some time to make, but I promise it’s completely fool proof.
I’ve made traditional tie-dye, but the bottles in the one-step mini tie-dye kit make life so much easier. (And a lot less messy.) Just fill each bottle up to the fill line with water and give them a shake. The kit even includes the rubber bands and the gloves you’ll need to keep your hands mess free.
I started with two yards of unbleached cotton fabric. (Natural fibers take dye best.) I used the crinkle method for this tie-dye. I wet the fabric, placed it on a trash bag and crumpled it up.
Then I went completely insane with the dye. Normally letting more than two colors touch is a bad thing when you’re doing tie-dye. In this case I knew I wasn’t going to let the colors fully develop. And I liked the look of letting the colors muddy a bit. I covered the fabric with another trash bag and allowed it to set for a few hours. I then rinsed it out completely and let it dry.
I avoided the temptation to do something silly like iron the fabric, even though it was totally wrinkled. (Wrinkles are not a bad thing in this project!) I used a combination of scissors and a roatary cutter on a self-healing mat to create tons of fabric strips. My strips were about 1″ x 4″. They don’t need to be perfect. You can go wider, narrower or longer-but I wouldn’t recommend going shorter-four inches is the minimum you’ll need to create your loops.
I attached dozens and dozens of fabric strips to a wire wreath form. (I used a 12″ form, and two yards of fabric was more than enough to cover it completely.)
Just make a loop with the fabric.
Place the loop under one of the wires of the wreath form.
Then pull the ends of the fabric through the loop. And repeat.
Over and over and over…
It will take some time to get the right amount of fullness on your wreath, but I promise the project couldn’t be easier. (I recommend making all of your fabric strips and then settling in to watch a movie or two…)
Pick up these exclusive products at your local Michaels Arts & Crafts store. For those folks without a Michaels store in their area, you can order the products at iLoveToCreate.com. They’re currently offering free shipping on any neon Tulip product for the month of February when you use coupon code NeonFEB. But hurry-the code ends February 28th.
My box of goodies also included Tulip’s Fabric Markers and Dimensional Fabric Paint. That means more neon fun is coming soon!
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