Sunday, September 08, 2013

Got My Dye On

 I'm a bit behind in both getting around to visit you all and in posting myself.  Here though is some of what's been keeping me busy.  Last weekend I broke out the dyes and shirts.  I wound up making over two dozen shirts.  I have some other stuff I want to get done as well but that took me two days. 





 This is what motivated me to get dyeing.  It's a pattern designed to approximate the Trinidadian flag.  I had a specific request for it from Van over at Furiousball.  He has run several marathons in order to raise both awareness and money for Epilepsy research and for Leukemia and Lymphoma research.  He has run to honor his wife Abbe, who has epilepsy (and who is amazing for many reasons but not the least of which is that she herself ran a half marathon a day after having a severe seizure) a cousin fighting leukemia, other friends fighting cancer, and in memory of my own Aunt who lost her battle with Lymphoma.  He's running another marathon soon and asked me to make a tie dye incorporating the Trini flag somehow to wear it during the race as a way to show support for me since I had my own fight with cancer (and it still feels bizarre to type that out).  I was touched by his gesture.  If any of you are able and willing to donate to his support raising for Epilepsy and Cancer research I'd be grateful if you'd pay him a visit here to do so.  If you're not able to at this time, just a word of encouragement in his training might be appreciated.


In addition to making Van's shirt I played around with some new colors I found.  One of the reasons I hadn't dyed in a long time was I had run out of some important colors and needed to find a new place to get them.  I could have ordered the  dyes online but I was kind of appalled by the shipping charges for small and very lightweight jars.  Anyway, I rather like how this shirt turned out with two shades each of purples and pinks.











This is one of several I did in some earth tones I picked up.  I wasn't sure I was too crazy with the colors themselves but some other people saw the results in their sizes and begged for some new shirts.














The funny thing is they both refused to wear tie dye for many years because they felt I had caused them to OD on it.  They were hardly able to wait for me to finish with these two shirts though before grabbing them up and putting them on.  As you can see, Diana was less enthused about modeling but Calypso helped get a smile out of her.

14 comments:

Suldog said...

They both look really great in those shirts. They should be smiling!

Bijoux said...

Wow! Lots of cool designs and colors!

Logophile said...

Nice, verra nice.
I think those warmer coolers are lovely, of course, I would.
:p

stephen Hayes said...

I've always liked tie dye. Maybe you'll be responsible for bringing it back into popularity.

(not necessarily your) Uncle Skip said...

I kinda think the Irish flag would lend itself to tie dye.

I really like the linear look as opposed to the "target" style.

That said, I will most likely have to cull a good number of t-shirts before I can begin a tie dye collection.

Craig said...

You know I love the tie-dye. We still use the napkins. . .

And I still wear the socks. . .

Thanks.

;)

Daryl said...

those are beautiful!

Commander Zaius said...

Tie Dye rocks. I've got a couple myself. My big thing right now is Hawaiian shirts. The louder and more obnoxiously bright the better.

Kat said...

OOooooo!!! I love the two orange ones too! They are different and so bright! I love 'em!
Great job!

Craver Vii said...

I really like those shirts!! You know what? I went camping this weekend, and there was a gal there who reminds me so much of you. She wears tie-dye and has a refreshing originality about her--just like you. Plus, she had a mountain of tie-dyed shirts she was selling. If I had known, I would have brought enough cash to pick one up. But all I brought home was mosquito bites.

furiousBall said...

Abbe and I love our shirts. I can't wait to run Steamtown proudly wearing this shirt. I'll do my best to keep the purple dye from my mohawk out of it :)

Hilary said...

There you go.. a whole new line of tie-dye.. country flag tie-dye. I love the one Calypso is wearing. And geesh.. she sure looks like her mama.

Jocelyn said...

You are a dyeing magician. WOW.

The whole vibe between you and Van (and Abbe) just gets me teary...

...and it still feels weird to read the words about your battle with cancer. I mean, you're just you--so how can you also be You With Cancer?

It's just weird.

Anonymous said...

awesome colors in those batches! i thought that was YOU and D at first...