Busy busy busy!!!! But very brightly coloured.

As the title suggests, I've been a bit busy.

I've listed my first seven items on Etsy, which I'm really proud of. People are even looking at them! I've started with the tried and true beaded jewellery because I've been selling that on and off for years. Etsy is a real find because before two house moves ago I lived near a little gallery that was quite happy to take my stuff on a sale or return basis. Ten years later I'm trying to get back into living off what I love to do and I moved half across the country to get married two years ago and I know no-one! Thank the gods for Facebook!

I've also been hauling myself around charity shops and collected up a load of old tops to dye, then brought them home and spent several nights shibori-ing them. And dyeing my hands and the sink some interesting colours!

My most major triumph right now is that I've dropped a night a week from my (nocturnal) day job!!!!! Tah dah!!! The overall plan is to give that up entirely and craft for a living and I need the flexibility, so I've signed up with a company that makes and sells beautiful cards and stuff to tide me over. My 'sponsor' also sells organic skin care so I'll be doing that too. I'll have to get my hands back to human colour so I can get on with the party planning!

When you're dying anything,you have to make very sure you're using the right dye with the right fibre. Basically, acid dye for protein fibres - off animals, and fibre-reactive dyes (Procion is my favourite and loads of people use it) for fibres that started off growing in the ground (cellulose based, basically).

You also have to be extremely careful not to breathe in powdered dyes. Your lungs will not like it at all - the stuff is covered in warnings and you don't want to wake up in hospital having lost the ability to breathe, right? I found a supply of dust masks at a great price and stocked up. It's best to get the dye powder mixed up as quickly as possible and yourself out of any risk of sneezing in it. Then get the lids back on everything and you're fine. When I'm doing tie dye activities with the kids, Dylon make some great little kits that have the dye already in squeezy bottles so you can leave the kids happily elastic banding the damp fabrics (you have to love mess to make it as a crafter) while you add the water and shake. It's a good, cheap way to experiment yourself, too, especially if you don't get how colours blend together. Boring as it is, I'll do a post on how to put together a colour wheel soon. The basics are important.

If you do try the kits, KEEP THE SQUEEZY BOTTLES.

So there I was for a week, beautifying 30 pieces of clothing that had already outlived their usefulness for a previous owner.

I don't usually use detergent on clothes, opting instead for wash balls, but you really must start off by giving the clothes a really good wash. If you don't, left over grease - ancient food stains, toiletries, fingerprints, even someone elses fabric conditioner, can act as a resist when you dye. If you like interesting results, go for it, if you want to plan how things turn out - wash it well first!

Since I was doing a batch of cotton and cotton mixes, the dye needs alkiline solution to bond with the fibre. There are many versions of what you need to use, but I stick with good old washing soda because it's cheap and easy. I have read that some have bleaching agents in to boost them up but I haven't come across that myself. The problem being that you lovingly dye your items and the soda cleans it all back out for you! Spend your money on good dye and go cheap as possible with your soda!

You're supposed to soak the clothes for at least twenty minutes but I tend to leave it about an hour to make sure the solution of soda has got into all the seams and any resistant bits. I do that before I tie, but I'm going to try tying before I soak next time - I have got extremely sore hands!

There are a lot of different ways to fold and bunch and tie the clothes up, so I'll do another post on the details of that and the dye mixes, which are also pretty complicated.

Once you've got your clothes all bunched and arranged, be brave with your colours! You need to get as much dye as you can into the cracks - hence the squeezy bottles, so take your time. I use plastic carrier bags to put each piece in. I put the garment in before I put the dye on. Arrange the bag so you've got a surface to work on and then fold it up once you've finished and put it in a bucket. A word to the wise - check your plastic bag hasn't got any holes in it or you'll dye your feet while you're moving the piece!

Pile up your dyed and wrapped garments in your buckets and put them somewhere warm where they can't get knocked over and kids and animals can't investigate. I put them near our drier in the conservatory because even my daughter stays away from that corner for fear of someone calling out 'while you're there can you empty the drier, please honey?'.

The next bit is important - leave it alone for at least 24 hours. I go for 48. It makes all the difference to the finished result if the dye has time to soak right in.

When you take the dyed items out of the bags, rinse more than you think you need to, then rinse a bit more, then back in the washing machine, with detergent. Then air dry.

I'm painting on the things I'm working on right now so I'll be steam setting the dye. I'll post some pictures when I'm done. You're supposed to set the dyed items but between you and me, I don't think you always need to - you learn with experience. Some fibres grab onto the dye and don't let go, others need some persuading. Older fibres, that are a bit fluffier, seem to dye better. My hands, my feet, and the ugly plastic sink we're getting rid of as soon as we can find an old one (we're very green, you know) dye like a charm!