Sometimes when you are getting ready to do a craft, you can't find the right material to use. You can find the fabric, but not the color you would like it to be. So don't forget there are many things you can do to fabric to change the color. In the background of this bunny is white plush felt. White felt/fur is pretty easy to find, getting it in colors? that's another thing. Didn't really want the bunny white, so I coffee stained the felt and got the color I liked. I did the same thing with the cotton that was used for the body as well. After I finished this one bunny, my husband suggested bunnies in other colors for Easter. Wait....what? It was a good idea, and then came the use of Rit dye.
If you didn't know there are different kinds of dye and the have different purposes. There are dyes that are intended to be used with plant based fibers and ones that you would use with animal based fibers. For example, you wouldn't want to use Rit dye (dye intended for plant based fibers) on wool (animal based fiber) Hope this isn't confusing, just thought you would want to know. Actually, I should say, I couldn't guarantee what kind of results you would get. I had done some work with Rit in the past so it wasn't my first time using the product. I would recommend the liquid dye, it is more expensive, I think a $1 more for liquid then powder, but it doesn't like undissolved dye spots on your fabric. I wanted the plush felt pastel looking in color, so I went easy on the dye in the water. I added hot water to my kitchen sink, its the easiest to bleach clean, you will want to think about how much water you will need to cover your material. I used about 12", so I didn't need much water, probably a gallon at the most, and about 1-2 T. dye. I soaked the fabric in the dye solution for about 30 minutes. Because I knew these rabbits weren't going to be washed I didn't cold water rinse the fabric. I rung it out by hand and allowed it to air dry.
Here are the colors I ended up with. Sorry there aren't bigger pieces for you to see the colors better. In my excitement to see the finished bunnies, I quickly cut them out. But the results were a soft pink, blue, yellow and , of course, lavender. Hope this makes you want to try your hand at using dye.
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