A new DIY thread - Page 2

Just standard RIT black dye.

I might try to pick up a cheap pair of levis 510/511 or something on ebay or sale and give it a try. They look great. I wouldn't wash them often as i don't know how well the rit dye would hold up. No more pink fading on the grey skulls at least.

So I did a few DIY projects and though I'd share them.

1. Denim Dyeing

I had a pair of pre-washed jeans from Bench that fit great, but had an ugly factory distressed look. So I decided to pick up some RIT dye and just dye it black.

Before:



After:



I was so happy with the results I did it to a denim jacket that had an ugly shade.





2. Converse Restoration

I had two pairs of white Converse hi-tops that got really dirty after months of wear. I started fixing them up by gluing together the parts that were falling apart, then I primed them with some base fabric paint, then spray painted them with Krylon flat spray paint. Finished them off with Rust-Oleum Crystal Clear Enamel.

White:


Black:


For the black pair, I neglected to prim the right shoe, that is why it has a more canvas texture. I shall be redoing it.


3. Volcano Stan Smith Shoes

These were a pair of Stan Smith shoes that I never wore and were pretty tired of. I first used Krylon plastic paint for the base red, then lightly topped it off with simple black spray paint. Finished it off with the clear enamel.

I got the cracking effect on the sides by cooling down the shoe before applying the black paint, then using a blow dryer to heat it up while the black layer was drying.






4. Beaded Cuff

I wanted some bracelets, as stated in a previous thread I made, so I decided to make one myself. Made out of black and white glass beads, in a tribal arrowhead design. The first picture is intentionally blurred to show the pattern off more clearly




5. Penny Necklace

So I was at a senior citizen's home, and this one guy was telling me how he used to squash pennies at the railroad tracks back in the good 'ol days. I decided to go ahead and try it and used the well-flattened ones to make a necklace. I just used pliers to curl them around and threaded them through this rope thing.




6. Denim Key Leash

I was getting tired of my key lanyard, so I decided to make one of my own. I had some denim scraps lying around, so I sewed that into a straight leash, then curled it and set the twists with starch.





7. Filipino Backpack / Clothing / Shoes

This was from a few months ago, but I never talked about it. I think I shared this before, but never talked about it. I wanted some Filipino inspired things to wear and what not. So I took a Jansport backpack, stripped off the front pockets, then painted on the Philippine sun with fabric paint. More or less the same procedure with the shirt and the shoes; I cut a stencil out of a plastic sheet and sprayed adhesive to the back then attached it, then painted off that. For the shoes, they were a pair of checkered Vans that I first painted with white fabric paint, then used a fine point Sharpie to fill in the details, then coated it with clear enamel.

Cool stuff LC. Really liking the cons. How does the paint hold up after wear?

Haven't worn then like crazy yet, but the paint on the rubber part definitely stays better with an initial coat of plastic primer. The black ones do not have any plastic primer and are more susceptible to scuffs and scratches.

So here's another project I just finished today. Painted/Coated Denim So I had another pair of jeans that fit really well in my opinion, but had a horrible wash. So I decided to mess around and try to get it in a different color, but with a different method other than dyeing. I first soaked the jeans in a mixture of RIT Color Remover and bleach to prep the material, then started working in the denim. I just picked up a few bottles of fabric paint, and started painting it onto the denim. Check out the thumbnails for progress pics and the original color of the fabric. I continued this until the whole front and back sides were done, then I ran out of paint. Once it was dry, I experimented and ran a quick application of leather conditioner than I had lying around, then I hung it up to dry. So here's the final pics; for comparison, the light bluish denim on the left of my project are APCs. Oh, and the creases are just from one wear. I had to put them on and add a layer of paint to the top portion of the jeans while it was stretched out. And I'm still trying to find out the best way of sealing paint/media on fabric or canvas. So far, the only thing that's been somewhat effective has been the clear lacquer that I mentioned, but it has a tendency to crack after a lot of use, so I'm not set on that yet.

Speaking of jean dying, I realize that a lot of people dye their jeans black but how about dying their jeans a dark blue-ish color? I have a pair that has been faded pretty well and I rather liked the raw dark blue look, how plausible is that?

Loosechange, those rit-dye black jeans look great. I think tomorrow I will pick up some dye for a old pair of Lucky brand's I have laying around, just to test it out.

someone made a thread here about doing exactly that. i seem to remember he just used equal parts black dye and indigo dye, and it turned out rather awesome.

Yeah, that could work. I'd suggest using the color remover before dying for better results.

Yep, and another guy found an online source for actual indigo dye. Let me see if I can find it....

EDIT - Started by hi-val, he used Dylan dies:

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=64837

Hey, was just about to link to my thread. Thanks for doing that, Ludeykrus : ) Several months of wear later, with several washes, the dye has faded out a bit, about halfway. They still look good, they've just got fading again. You can bleach your jeans to get them to take the color really well but that really, really kills worn fabrics since the bleach is harsh. You'll end up with fraying and decomposing fabric. Could be tried with thick fabric though. It'd take the dye a lot better, too. Black dye is actually just really freakin' dark blue dye, you'll see this when you mix it up with water. If you're dying something black, I suggest lots of agitation, hot water and doubling, tripling or quadrupling the amount of dye suggested for use. I tapered a pair of jeans awhile back and took pictures of that, I'll upload it when I get a chance!

The overdyed black/blue pair in your above link: would you say they have faded out evenly due to the washes, or is there any contrast in higher-wear areas? I was meaning to ask you about that after some time.

Wow nice awesome, I took am wondering how those would re-fade over time.

Though those are a bit blacker than I want, how dark would you say that blue dye is? Could I just go all blue, or use something like a 70/30 ratio to achieve that nice raw shade?

To get raw, you really need indigo dye. There are synthetic indigos, I think Dylon makes one. It isn't as rich as natural indigo though. The midnight blue dye that I used is pretty dark, and maybe doing all of just that would get a good raw color. If it isn't dark enough, you can always dye them with a pack of black afterwards. They faded where the fades were before, so they look both darker and naturally worn. When I get my camera up again, I'll take pictures of them again. If you don't want them to fade, you can use industrial dyes or just redye them later. It doesn't hurt the fabric and it costs all of $3, your time spent on it costs more than the actual product does!