Batik-style dyed child-size apron

I remember this gorgeous pale pink silk batik saree my mom had that seemed ethereal somehow, just beautiful. I loved the way she moved in it, draped elegantly. I used to find excuses to hold the flowing border of that saree, much to her annoyance. I think that's when my love for batik-style fabric prints germinated. That saree is threadbare, but, she gave it to me the last time she was here because I wouldn't let her condemn it to rag-dom like the fate of most of her other old sarees.

I have tried my hand at batik a few times but nothing spectacular to show for it. And, this project is not for show-casing it either. I just love the idea of applying wax to block the dye in some chosen pattern, then dyeing the fabric, especially the kind of fabric that absorbs color non-uniformly, and letting it dry to reveal the magic.

And when Ana's class teacher mentioned that she'd like a few aprons for her kids, I couldn't resist trying to make a couple rather than buying some generic ones from the store.



For this project, rather than any pattern, I simply wrote some words on the fabric with the liquid wax, knowing that kids will be using it for art work or other classroom activities in her Montessori school. Nothing earth-shattering or clever, but just something that is relevant and simple.

Items used: unbleached cotton canvas fabric, Tulip™ Wax Resist, Dylon™ permanent dye (Terracota)

Procedure is simple: apply the wax-resist, allow it to dry completely, then dye the fabric, then sew it into child-size apron

Sewing: I made it to fit Ana as most kids in her class are about her size and age. The neck piece as well as the waist string are sewed at one end and attached at the other by velcro, so students can easily put it on and take it off by themselves. I didn't want buttons or ties anywhere for little kids. The finish is just regular piping (bias-binding).

When we took it to her class, Ana got to show her teacher and her friends how to wear it (as she had tried it on several times at home).

In her Montessori classroom, kids do various activities like peeling-slicing-serving bananas, metal and wood polishing, art work with paints, washing their own dishes after lunch, nut cracking etc. - just lots of practical skills that also develops dexterity, hand-eye co-ordination, self-esteem and life skills, so, the two aprons will get used a lot, I hope.

I have done some tie-dyeing on and off and still enjoy dyeing fabric with natural dyes. My favorite of late happens to be woad. I guess a PBS show about woad plant and dye-extraction got me fascinated in the first place... and the fact that woad is sort of colorless like water and when the fabric absorbs the dye and gets exposed to air, it gets oxidized to reveal this gorgeous blue...

tie-dye toddler ribbed-knit tees

I bought about 5 yards or so, a while back, of white ribbed knit fabric as it was on sale at fabric.com.

I had made some winter full-sleeved tees for my baby, dyed the whole tee sort of grey (was going for black, really, and lost patience), and tie-dyed just the sleeves for a trendy look.

I still had plenty of this white ribbed knit fabric left, so, I decided to make half-sleeved t-shirts and tie-dye the whole shirt, in indigo.

The problem really for me is that I like to start and finish these projects in the shortest possible time, and preferably during weekends when I am not weary from a stressful work day, trying to get dinner ready, play with Ana, read to her, put her in bed, maybe read my book and hit the sack so I can be ready for the next work day... As a result, lot of times, I get impatient and want to finish the project fast, so, I cut down the steps.

Somehow, even on weekends, I am not able to justify spending a lot of time on my "hobbies" when there are loads of laundry waiting for me, not to mention cooking three meals a day - which I get to do only on weekends, and I love to cook - so, not complaining there...



Anyway, it was fun as I was trying to make one for Ana, one for my nephew, and one for my niece who are all about the same size - of course, I kept the tie-dye patterns slightly different, naturally:-)

The t-shirt was easy to sew— just regular set-in sleeves, simple neck, nothing fancy.

I thought about tie-dyeing in some baby colors, say some shade of pastel blue for the boy and some shade of pink/lilac for the girls. But, decided to go with indigo instead — as not many baby shirts are made in that color, it would be unique ;-)

I still had a few patches left from the baby mat/toy tote project, so, I sewed one patch on each shirt where I could add the blue and pink touches, and added some stones on the third.

As I still have quite a bit of that white ribbed knit fabric, sometime down the road, when I am in the mood again, I wil try tie-dyeing in a couple of different colors.

custom toddler t-shirts

A while ago, I had bought some ribbed knit fabric from fabric.com as I was interested in making t-shirts and such for my wee tot.

Now that it is stormy and wet most of the days here in the Pacific NW, weekends are pretty much spent indoors. So, I decided to make a couple of custom t-shirts for my little one this weekend.

Each tee, including sleeves just used about 1/2 yard of fabric, and are approximately toddler size 2T.

I had bought about 5 yards (45" wide) of white ribbed knit hoping to dye them any color i fancied.

This time I tried a simple tie-dye type technique and dyed them charcoal grey. I was aiming for deep black, but lost patience and decided to settle with charcoal grey instead.

Also, I tried a different sleeve and neck on each t-shirt and they turned out all right, I think.

The fun part, besides sewing and dyeing, was to add the applique detail on the chest front. I wanted to do the Chinese character for Happiness on one of them, but, it was pretty tough, so, stuck with what I could handle better :-)

This is just fusible web applique and might not hold up on machine wash, so, I might have to do some running stitch or blanket stitch to keep the applique from fraying and falling apart.

But, if it does fall apart, it might give me an incentive to try a different applique design on these t-shirts then;-)