*** The official and awesome DIY thread *** - Page 54

what´s the tank?

He said Fruit of the Loom.

Thanks, I read it but didn´t realize that was the name of the brand

So acrylic seems to be the way to go when painting shoes? My girlfriend wants to make some white derbys....

Getting the hang of my sewing machine...I seem to have it running perfectly (just need to get a new pedal since the 1957 version is on its last legs)

Turned an 8-inch strip of a $3.99 fleece blanket into 3 neck warmers! Ready for my ski trip this weekend.

I got this pair of 3-sixteens from a SF member about a month ago



You can't tell in the picture, but I found that they had weird streaks, like wrinkles that were lighter at the crease points, and they wouldn't go away--I thought it was just wrinkles, but I steamed them and they were still there; I washed them, and they did not go away--so they were permanent.

Very well, I'll just dye the jeans darker and it'll fix it.

I bought a thing of Rit black dye, figuring I'd do shorter than their recommended application, but then I read online that I'd probably end up with purple jeans that way. That website recommended the silver gray dye by iDye, so I went for it on Ebay.

It came in a few days later, and while catching up with a friend of mine in Japan on Skype, I followed the instructions--put a pot of water on, put the dye packet in, stir, let it heat up a little, put the jeans in, stir frequently, let it get to almost boiling...

this took a long time. My jeans were in there for maybe 30 minutes before it got to almost boiling. but almost-boil they did.

So as I heard all about Japan's themed sex hotels, I stared at these jeans in their inky womb.



I got a little concerned. How dark is this dye gonna make them, anyway? No, I'm sure they're freshly dyed AND wet. They're darker now than they really will be.

OK, so once they hit the simmering point, I gave 'em 30 minutes in the pot as the package described. That patch got got to looking pretty weird.



Well, I figured it'll just be curly, OK. After 30 minutes, I dumped 'em out and washed them in the washing machine.

So they're washed and I hang them to dry. I notice I can still see the creases, despite the very dark color. OK, maybe they're gonna be very, very dark gray. Put 'em next to black Levi's, and you'll see they're not exactly black, not black like things that are supposed to be black are, but they're pretty much black. But the creases are there.



So, fine, I basically have black jeans. Cool.

Well, the patch is kind of weird feeling while they're drying. A little stiff, but pretty wrinkled. I figure I'll oil them. I check in with the jeans the next day, and this patch is like a piece of bark. I coat it liberally in Lexol in hopes of recovering it somehow. Then I leave town for a week.

I come back, the jeans are calling my name. I check in with the patch, which is just as hard as I left it. It cracks while I'm testing out its limits. I show it to a roommate, who breaks it further. This patch is over. I remove it with a seam ripper. In the picture below, you can see the now-black patch and the spot on the jeans where they came from, still a little gray where the dye couldn't get through the patch.



I figure that's the story. I've got black jeans, I'll wash 'em whenever in hopes of getting some "70s wash" going.

A few days later, while wearing said jeans, I go and buy a small thrift-store bookshelf. Hauling it to my car, it rubs against the jeans, and...the black comes off. I can see this spot of gray.



And as I spend another day in them, I notice a little gray creasing in the highest-stress areas, so I'm only like three days of wear total into these, but they're already fading. These jeans know what they want, and they're getting there fast.

So to end my story, I advise you kids, dyes from the internet are fast and loose, and I accidentally made myself a pair of black-fading-to-gray 3-Sixteens. God knows what they'll look like in a few months. Hopefully insane.

Where was the seller from? My black jeans developed similar streaks to what you described because water here is so hard

In my experience jeans get those streaks from cheap dryers

D.C.

I ended up doing this with some white housepaint, because I really didn't need another pair of grey/black boots.



I like how they look now, but I dont think the paint will peel off, it seems like its on there pretty good. Probably because they had kind of a suede-like texture before they were painted. Maybe I should have polished them first. What I'm really after is something like this:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
overall I think the finish looks alot nicer now, the original finish was just a bit 'manufactured' looking to me. Also the brilliant white satin paint I used works better than the glossy off-white they originally used.

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to make iPad covers or even create cool effects on simple covers? 

Looks good max.  I'm tempted to try that with mine, though I might ask one of my art student friends what kind of paint to go with, since ideally I want something that will flake off.

Housepaint should flake, acrylic is flexible when dry so don't use that.

Here is one of my own made jean.
used 3 1/2 yards of cone mills 12 oz selvage.
needed an extra half yard for the inside trimming.








it looks like boot, but its 16" bottom straight leg.
yes thats selvage trim all around thr inside of
the waist and the fly, and the loops.
Edited by a tailor - 3/22/13 at 12:34pm