Saturday, July 9, 2011

Dying Bakers' Twine!

I recently bought cones of bakers' twine for some summer fundraising bake sales at my daughter's school from Country Clean Paper Supplies.  I think cookies, brownies, and mini loaves sell better when they have cute wrappings!  Buying the twine by the cone is so much cheaper than from shares and samples sets!  So... two cones later, I am overwhelmed with thousands of yards of twine!

I have decided to have a little fun and try a bit of dying.  I worked at a fabric store for 17 or so years and learned how to dye lace, shoes, and fabrics.  I used to do a fair amount of batiking too, so dying the twine seems like a natural thing to do! 

I found some old tie-dye supplies left over from last summer.  They warn that age will distort the colors, and these have been around for a year.  I decided to try out my project using 10-yard hanks of twine. 


Step one:  Measure off the twine and keep it as neat as possible to prevent tangling.  I have a hard time dying with this kind of thing when it is longer than 10 yards.  (That is to say, I have a hard time keeping it from tangling!)
Step two:  Wet the twine with water to help the dye penetrate.

Step three:  Place the twine in a zipper-seal plastic bag.  Squirt the dye in.  Through the plastic bag, massage the dye into the fibers.



Step four:  Let it set.  I wanted to pull one out, so I chose the purple.  I removed it after 20 minutes.  All others were left to set in the dye for about 4 hours. 


Step five:  Through the plastic, squeeze out the dye, allowing it to puddle at the bottom of the bag.  Using gloves, remove the twine and immediately drop it into distilled white vinegar.  (This is the cheap kind of vinegar that you buy at the grocery for a couple of bucks a gallon and is useful for cleaning and deordorizing around the house.)  Let it set for a few minutes to help set the color. 

Step six:  Rinse the twine.  Allow to dry.  Do your best to avoid aggitating and tangling the twine! 



I used the Mickey Font ticket, cut at 1-1/2" on my Expression to make these poster board cards for the twine I dyed.
Thank you for visiting my blog!

14 comments:

Susan said...

Great idea - will try this SOMETIME!

Love your blog and as always, thanks for sharing your talents!

Susn

Aman said...

What a great idea! I need to get some twine and try dying it too!

amanbains1 at gmail dot com

RockinRenee said...

Great tutorial! Lucky you to have all the supplies on hand.

Tanya~Studio 5380 said...

Nadia this is such a great idea! I love the twine and would love to have it in every color. With your technique, I might just be able to achive that goal...lol!

Rachel said...

WOW! What a great way to save money and to have whatever colors you need without having to buy a certain amount at a time! I've never seen twine in such a big cone before! TFS!

Kirsten @ Mushki Loves said...

Your blog is too cute! Thank you for this tutorial! I need to get me some bakers twine now! I am your newest follower. I found you at running with glitter, I would love it if you would stop by and follow back if you like what you see! Have a great day!

Kirsten

Diane Hodrick said...

that is alot of twine! i would have never thought to dye it myself. what a clever idea. can't wait to see it showing up in some of your amazing projects!

Sara Andrews said...

Nadia~ I am convinced you can do anything!!

Great idea! But, I know I would have myself and the whole house purple.

Kelly @ Run With Glitter said...

You are featured this week on the Glitter Spotlight!http://runwithglitter.blogspot.com/2011/07/running-with-glitter-friday-spotlight-7.html
Thank you for linking up!

Tonda said...

Thanks so much for sharing this. I will have to give this a try. Where did you find the little ink bottles? Do they come like this already filled with the ink? Love your blog and I just became a follower!!

Audrey Frelx said...

This is great!!! Wonderful idea!

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to let you know that I featured your fun project! Thanks for linking up! :)

http://www.polishthestars.com/2011/07/link-party-monday-25.html

Carole P said...

I just saw this, Nadia and I'm bookmarking it! I know what my crafting friends are getting for Christmas!

mamawcindy said...

This is a Great Idea! I just became a follower of yours! :)
cindys-greencricut.blogspot.com

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