Search Results for: dyeing

Dye-IY: A Lesson on Dyeing

Colormusing8 Comments

DANGER: Crash course ahead! Be advised that reading this post involves a distinct risk of dyeing. Color-mixing may be addictive, ombré effects can become an obsession, and friends may beg you to dye for them. Before proceeding through the following, ask yourself if you can handle the risks. Then ask your blogger if dyeing is right for you.

I’ve done several posts that at least touched on dyeing various bra parts, plus my most recent project, ombré-dyeing an entire bra. So I’ve decided it’s about time I included a few tips on the art of dyeing gracefully.

Materials before dyeing
Want to learn how to go from this…

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Dyeing Nylon Rings and Sliders

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Helpful tips on dyeing rings and sliders, from Natasha of ArteCrafts, one of my favorite suppliers!

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I wrote about nylon vs polyester sliders a few months ago and how polyester slides are impossible to dye. For this reason I have switched to stocking nylon sliders so my customers can dye to match their other notions. Plastic findings can be the most difficult to dye and sometimes you might give up on them too soon. Here’s a few tips on how I dyed the slides in this picture. I used RIT Lemon dye and they came out fairly true to shade. But they took longer to take up the dye and a little bit of special handling.

I’ve done a lot of testing with dying these sliders with acid and RIT dyes. The secret to getting the color that you want is acidity and time. I recommend dying all your notions as usual but once you’ve taken out your fabric, elastics, channeling and hook and eyes out…

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All the Pretty Pieces: Dyeing to Match (or Not)

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At this point in my second bra project, I’ve chosen my pattern and assembled fabrics from my scrap stash, incidentally creating a color palette in the process.

Materials for my second bra
The main elements going into my second bra: 1. Sheer silk print, to be layered over 2. Silk snakeskin print (the same fabric I used for my first bra!). 3. Black stretch lace fabric, to be layered over 4. Bamboo/spandex for coordinating panty. 5. Black picot-edge elastic trim for both bra and panty.

Now I just need to add the remaining bits and pieces that go into making a bra: channeling (this is what houses the underwires), strap material, elastic trim (for both bra and panty), powernet fabric (for the back band), and the back closure for the bra.

And here is where I come crashing right up against the dreaded, frustrating, tear-my-hair-out question:Read More »

The Great Linen Experiment

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Today seems to be all about circling back to my early days of bra-making (okay, that was only three years ago). I’m wearing the very first bra I ever made, the hot summer weather has made me nostalgic for distant memories of wearing refreshingly cool linen, before it became adulterated with polyester and other mysterious substances that for some reason render it wrinkle-free, and nostalgia has also led me back down memory lane to the Marlborough bra pattern— the first one I ever used, and still one of my very favorites; my second-ever bra was also a Marlborough, made with silk scraps from other sewing projects, and I literally wore it until it was in shreds.

And therein, dear readers, lies the origin of The Great Linen Experiment. Read on.

Detail of my printed linen fabric
Detail of my printed linen fabric. I love the unexpectedly bright colors, most especially the almost-acid yellow and the deep fuchsia pink. The occasional streaks of white, as if it had been brushed with bleach, add to the intriguing, vintage-inspired effect.

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Bra-fitters Speak: 5 Tips to Know Before You Shop

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Here at myBratelier, the focus is on lingerie that we’re making ourselves, but I also want to include tips to help us all shop as more knowledgeable and informed consumers. And for those of us who do sew our own bras, there’s always something more to learn, right?

Help is on the way! This slideshow from Refinery29* reveals the top 5 tips to know before you shop— straight from professional bra fitters. If you’ve never had a bra fitting, reading through their advice, which ranges from how to fasten your bra to considering tailoring, will help you shop with confidence!

 Caution: Slideshow includes some illustrations (no photos) that could be considered NSFW.

 

How do you choose a bra?
With an overwhelming variety of bras available everywhere these days, where do you start? Refinery29’s slideshow will help you to see past all the color and lace to focus on fit. (Click the photo to go to the slideshow.)

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It’s a Blog: SewColormusing Joins the Family!

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The first of my sewing-related blogs was Changing Your Clothes, covering anything having to do with making the most of clothes you already have: alterations, dyeing, repairs, wardrobe planning (via color palettes, natch), refashioning. Next in line: the blog you’re looking at right now, My Bratelier, which is focused only on sewing lingerie, including bras. So when I wanted to write posts for sew-along projects started in one of my workshops, I didn’t have an existing blog that was the right fit. What’s a blogger to do?

Silly question. Start a new blog, of course! Help me welcome SewColormusing into the Colormusing family!

SewColormusing blog
It’s a bouncing baby blog! SewColormusing will include sew-along series, special technique tutorials, and general sewing fun!

ColormusingWant to know more about Colormusing? Don’t miss all my color-palette-related excitement at the  A Musing blog! (Click on the dots above to visit my mother ship, Colormusing.com.)

The Little White Project: A Brief Follow-up

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I know, I know, I said the Little White Project was over. But here’s the thing: Even after all the lengthy tutorials, the sewing, the dyeing, and the finishing, there are still some notes about making the Little White Bras/Panties/Thongs that didn’t make it into the previous posts. I feel, therefore, duty-bound to offer these tidbits here.

The Sewing Part: Little White Bras

  1. The main difference between the first one and the second is the materials used for the cups. The first has lace on the upper/center cup pieces; for the second (the colorblocked one), I used the same Swiss dot/cup lining combination for all the cup parts. This meant that I’d have to finish the top (neckline) edge of the cups, though, so I used foldover elastic for this. (Click here for my post that includes a tutorial on applying FOE.)
  2. The other major difference is in the bridge. For the first LWB, I unintentionally shortened the bridge by sewing a seam at the top of it; this created a gap between the top of the bridge and the top of the underwires— in other words, the wires extended up the center on either side of the bridge, past the top of the bridge. (Click here to see what I did about that little issue.)
  3. I also decided to put the elastic trim at the bottom of the bridge; because I’d measured and cut my trim before dyeing it, I double-checked the length to make sure I would still have enough for the rest of the bra. (Notes to self: Good thing I always cut a little extra. This looks great! Must do again!) When I look at the bra as a whole, this really helps to make all the colors and trim work cohesively.

    Changes to LWB2
    The sewing differences in my second LWB. (For this, I dyed the separate bra pieces before sewing them together.)

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Dye-IY & the Little White Project: The Final Chapter

Colormusing14 Comments

Yes, it’s that time. It’s the last part of my Little White Project, in which I’ll show you yet another approach to dyeing a bra and panty (okay, thong), using the same bra pattern (Kwik-Sew 3300), (mostly) same materials as the original Little White Bra, and the same 3 dye colors. But this time, I’m going to do something completely different with the dyes!

Before I get to that, here’s a quick recap of the various dyeing processes already done in this series:

  1. Dyed a finished panty in a single dyebath (combining equal parts of all 3 dye colors);
  2. Ombré-dyed a finished thong with a single dye color;
  3. Ombré-dyed a finished bra with 3 separate colors.

    Little White Bra/Panty/Thong
    My first 3 Little White projects. Clockwise from lower left: Panty dyed in all 1 color (3 dye colors mixed together), bra ombré-dyed with 3 colors, and thong ombré-dyed in 1 color. But wait— there’s more!

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Quick Links

I thought it might be helpful if I compiled links to some key topics from my posts*, all in one place!

  1. How to apply foldover elastic (FOE)
  2. How to sew a crotch lining with completely enclosed seams
  3. How to add mesh/lace/sheer trim to a seam
  4. Basic dyeing information

 

 *Please note that, in most cases, specific topics listed here are only part of the linked posts— you may have to scroll a little to find them. Just saying.

Dye-IY: The Little White Panties That Were

Colormusing13 Comments

Now that I’ve made my Little White Panty and Little White Thong, I can’t wait to try out some of my dyeing ideas! If you’ve seen the results of dyeing my Little White Bra, you’ll know I used a dip-dyeing technique, with several colors, to create its beautiful ombré finish. This time, I’m going to do something different: the panty will be immersion-dyed in a mix of colors, and I’m going to dip-dye the thong with just 1 dye color. The kicker: I’ll be using some of the same dye colors as for my LWB, so these panties should coordinate well with the bra (fingers crossed).

The LWP, Before & After
No, it’s not Jekyll and Hyde, The Underwear Edition. It’s my Little White Panty, before and after dyeing!

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