I've been DYE-ING to make these for ages. There's something so magical and ghostly about sun prints that instills a little quiet and a lot of style. Our bedroom is where almost all of our non-edible houseplants live, and with the exception of the green has been largely white and grey for the past year or so. So not only do these pillows mirror our botanically inspired bedroom, but they also bring a dose of much needed color to our cozy little nook.
We haven't even started and I already have to confess our first modification to original tutorial (in the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Craft; page 68). Sun print fabric is VERY expensive. Like upwards of $30 a yard. However, I was obsessed with the idea of using a beautiful silk velvet cyanotype fabric to make these pillows. After pacing around the living room and checking my credit card balances, I decided to take the plunge. I mean, I would really only need around two yards. I filled out the form to make my purchase, hit place order and wondered how many lattes I would have to forego after this purchase.
"We regret to inform you that we are not currently shipping to your area."
What?! What does that even mean?
It means we're driving to the craft store to come up with a back up AND we're getting coffee on the way.
After picking up lattes and wandering around Michael's for half an hour, we found our answer in the clearance section. INKODYE! A light sensitive fabric dye. I didn't even know this was a thing. A thing that costs $6! We win and drive home.
Not nearly as elegant as silk velvet, this stuff was a mess and it smelled like hot bleach. Patrick was such a champ for jumping in and spreading this stuff onto the fabric with a brayer. IN THE DARK. Yes. It's photo sensitive. You have to avoid as much light as possible. That's why the above photo is awful. We had to this in our halfway, with all of the doors closed.
But this stuff is pure magic. This was what happened in the first minute or so. We used glass from old picture frames to hold down clippings from our pothos.
This is what it looked like after around 7-10 minutes. Crazy, right? If you want to see the finished color, scroll up or down! (There's also a time lapse video on Patrick's Instagram: @phanlin12)
We chose the absolute easiest pillow tutorial on the Martha Stewart site, which is only two hems and two seams. We spent more time ironing than we did sewing. Minutes. This project seriously only took half of an afternoon.
Have you sunprinted anything? How did it go?
XO
Robbie + Patrick