Grand Finale!

Presenting: Grade School Tie Dye Awesomeness!



There may be more pics than you care to see. All that tie dye kind of blends together. But the kids are so adorable, I couldn't resist.

Dye Day!

The second stage of our grade school tie dye project was Dye Day.

Dye Day is a Great Day!

This step was messy and fun. The team of adult helpers were fantastic. They kept kids moving, kept the mess under control, and kept everyone happy.

Two of my children came as assistants. They've both been dying shirts since they were old enough to hold squirt bottles. They were knowledgeable, displayed maturity, leadership, and encouragement. Much to their shock, I took them right to Dairy Queen and bought them Blizzards (this a very rare occurence, saved for only the highest of honors).

Here's the slide show:

Schools and Uniforms

*No Catholic school girls or plaid skirts were used in the writing of this post.*

I stopped by the school today to see the t-shirts for myself. They are pale--not the purply, grape soda color I wanted, but they are still pretty shirts. I talked with the principle and she said the kids are thrilled. They got to see the results of something they made with their own hands. It's all good.

There are still a selection of shirts that need to be dyed. Each grade's shirts are purple plus one other color (green, turquois, blue). Staff, such as the lunch workers, will have shirts that are purple plus all three colors. Friday, the whole school is wearing their tie dyed shirts! How cool is that?

On another note, have you been following the Uniform Project? It's a daily fashion project raising money for a specific school in India. The clothes are imaginative and the kids are....well....kids--wide eyed and sweet. Check it out here.

Tie Dye Pics

Here's a slide show of the school tie dye project. These were taken on the day we tied shirts.

The Good, the Bad.

....there's already plenty of ugly in the past few posts.

The Bad: My 400 t-shirts project has somehow gone awry. The shirts are pale. They either didn't get warm enough, or I goofed up the soda ash somehow. The shirts were left in garbage bags (one per class) in a room set to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not sure the warmth got through to all the shirts. As for soda ash, there's a good chance I used too much. Am going to the school tomorrow for a personal peek.

The Good: Scrumbling. I love it, though have never tried it. For those not in the know, scrumbling is free form knitting and crochet. Scrumblers know who they are and Prudence Mapstone is their Chief. Her blog makes me happy. Check it out.

It's Been a Busy Week

400 grade school children with t-shirts, a dozen volunteer parents, 4 full days, two of my children, and me.

Guess how much dye we used.

How Not to Do It.

After Action Report: Mission: T-shirt Tornado

Little Flyer Reporting.

2009 June 16
1030 -Receive via UPS 45 white, 100% cotton t-shirts, sizes XS to 3X.

2009 June 17
0630 -Scour 15 t-shirts, mixed sizes.

0715 -With shirts in washer, fill washer to medium level
with 110 degree Farenheit water.

0730 -Prepare ammunition using 3 TBS. turquoise dye powder.
Add to agitating washer.

0745 -Add ammunition support: 1 C soda ash to agitating washer.
Reset washer to agitate for 15 minutes. Leave area of operation.

0805 -Realize washer has drained completely due to
screwdriver depressing lid's safety switch,
allowing artist to watch agitation as entertainment.
Also allows full cycle to proceed. All dye and soda ash
not attached to shirts lost forever.
Dye recipe and careful calculations are out the window.

0806 -Contemplate success of mission. SNAFU early in
process does not project favorable outcome. Artist thinks
objectionable language.

0830 -Artist AWOL.