Tie Dye Muslin Backdrop Tutorial

1. Save up several milk jugs (the number depends on how many colors you plan to use).

2. Purchase muslin (I dyed a couple very large pieces - about 10x20). Joanns is a good place to get this, especially with a 40% off coupon.

3. Sew edges of muslin - make a rod pocket at top if desired.

4. Boil water.

5. Shake the Rit dye well. Pour dye into milk jugs. A general amount is about 1/2 of a container of the Rit liquid dye (I do not recommend the powdered dye). It does take some experimentation to figure out how much you need to make it as dark or as light as you want.

6. Pour boiling water in the milk jugs. I used a large measuring cup. The jugs were in the sink while I poured to avoid messes since the water didn't go in all that easy.

7. While the jugs cool for a minute, lay your muslin flat on some grass. Soak it thoroughly. Scrunch it to about 1/3 it's size using grasping motions with your hand.

8. Shake the jug(s) over the muslin to coat it. You will need to wear oven mitts while doing this as the jugs will still be quite hot. Be careful, you will most likely get dye on yourself and the mitts.

9. Pull the muslin flat and shake dye over any bare spots. Other websites suggest putting it in a spray bottle to fill the gaps.

The red is before the first washing the and the gray is ready for it's second dyeing.

10. If you like how it looks, let it dry outside before washing. Washing will cause the color to bleed. I like this effect so I put it in the washer immediately. Use the rinse cycle with cold water. Once it is done put it in the dryer. I usually dye it a second time for a darker look.

11. Soak the grass afterwards to rinse out the dye, it will kill the grass otherwise.

I can't say I'm super happy with how this gray turned out. I'd like the blue I put in to stand out more, but it's at least a nice basic gray.

I was really worried how this red/brown was going. It is not at all what I was planning, but I like it nonetheless. My next project will be a true brown which I might actually achieved based on what I figured out in the tips below.

A few tips I've learned:

The rit brown dyes all tend towards a red tint. I discovered this the hard way. To combat this, add green to the brown. Rit's website has "recipes" to achieve the colors you want. It really does take some trial and error. You could probably try and be precise, but I didn't feel like wasting time on that. Hence my backdrops will probably always turn out not quite the way I planned, but ciest la vie.

Some people suggest adding salt to the rinse cycle to fix the dye. I've also read somewhere suggested soaking it in a tub of water with vinegar. This is definitely still a learning process, but it is so nice to have something beyond the standard black and white.