Have a Colourful Halloween with Dylon

With a wonderful range of colours and products to choose from, Dylon fabric dyes are a great starting point for getting creative with costumes this Halloween. From the darkest blacks to the brightest reds, Dylon can help you make a bespoke and unique outfit that will make your kids stand out from the crowd at their Halloween parties this year.

Dylon sent us some of their products so we could have a go at making our own fiendish fancy dress, putting our own spin on things.

This year, the colour palette identified by Dylon for Halloween 2015 includes Emerald Green, Velvet Black and Intense Violet for creating wickedly wonderful witchy coloured fabrics. Tropical Green is the perfect shade for Halloween, reminiscent of rotting zombies or Frankenstein's monster himself. Tulip Red brings to mind blood splatter or devils while Goldfish Orange is the colour of Jack O'Lantern pumpkins. And any little ones looking to step out as their favourite Minions this year, will look fabulous in Sunflower Yellow and Ocean Blue coloured costumes. The palette is really inspiring when it comes to planning Halloween outfits. I love the violet colour, which is a great hue for the season and the inspiration for Kezia's fancy dress outfit this year.

Kezia, at 13, is looking for a more grown up and subtle look for Halloween this year. Using Intense Violet fabric dye for hand dying, you can make a funky, soft grunge tie-dyed effect outfit, perfect for a pastel witch or zombie when combined with face paints and accessories. Searching charity shops is a good way to find old clothing that can be made into something new. Transforming an old white summer dress or oversized t-shirt is easy using Dylon products.

Tie-dying is simple to do using the hand use fabric dye made up according to the instructions. You simply tie knots in the garment and secure with string before plunging into the dye. Once the garment has taken on the colour, take it out of the dye and untie. It creates a lovely effect.

For a solid colour, the Dylon Machine Dyes now contain added salt so are all ready to use in the washing machine. You just run a wash programme with the product in the machine, then run a second wash programme afterwards. It's easy to transform garments, giving them a new colourful lease of life for Halloween and beyond.

Freddy has chosen an Evil Doctor fancy dress outfit this year, which has been created using Dylon Fabric Paint in red. Using an old toothbrush to flick the paint onto an old two piece white doctor's fancy dress outfit, creates a great blood spatter effect. Smearing the paint and using it to make a bloody hand print on the fabric, adds to the look. (Just be sure to wash it off the skin immediately!) Ironing sets the paint onto the garment. This is also great to do to an old white sheet to create a spooky backdrop or a tablecover for Halloween decorating.

I love the blood splattered and smeared mad scientist/ evil doctor outfit that we created. This bloody special effect can also be used on any old clothing to make a zombie costume. Freddy thinks his costume is 'absolutely fabulous' and it is totally unique to him. He enjoyed helping to make it.

With their Halloween outfits ready for the big night of Halloween parties and Trick or Treating, both Kezia and Freddy are going to look fantastic. It is fun to make your own Halloween costumes and the Dylon products are great for the job. Find out more about the range at www.dylon.co.uk.

Easter Crafts with Dylon

Dylon is probably best known for its colourful fabric dyes which can transform old and tired clothing and fabric into vibrant, brightly coloured garments and materials, giving them a  whole new lease of life!  However, they also make some brilliant craft products, perfect for adding personal touches to favourite clothes or for using in craft projects.  You can make unique and colourful creations with ease.

We were sent a selection of goodies from Dylon's range to use for some Easter crafts.  

The Fabric Paint can be painted or stencilled onto fabrics and stays soft even when fully dried.  The 3D Paints come in squeezy bottles and are available in glossy, pearl, glitter and puff varieties giving a host of fab effects.  The Fabric Pens are just like felt tips, available in bright or fluorescent shades.  They can be set into the fabric by ironing them.

We decided to make some Easter themed handkerchiefs for the children's grandparents.  Big, plain white hankies are very cheap to buy and provide a really good canvas for children to experiment with fabric paints and pens.  The resulting masterpiece makes a unique keepsake of the children's artwork.  They can even be framed to brighten up a wallspace.

My children first tried out the fabric pens to design patterns and pictures.  Ella went for an abstract design made up of fluorescent squiggles, dots and lines.  They applied quite easily to the material and didn't bleed out making them really good for intricate work.

Kizzy went for a traditional  Easter picture with chicks, eggs, flowers and a lamb.  She found the pens very easy to work with.  They were best used for outlines and patterns rather than for filling out large areas, according to the girls.  They aren't messy to use, just be sure to put something underneath the fabric to avoid the colours going through when using them.

The 3D paints are squeezed directly from the tubes onto the fabric which takes a little bit of practice to avoid blobbing and smearing!  We made a fabric Easter card using the material which we then mounted onto stiff card.  The paint dries in 4 hours whereby it becomes even more vibrantly coloured.  

The shiny paints dry giving a 3D effect.

The 3D paints were also great for decorating eggs.  We practised making a Faberge Style egg and the paint went on well giving a nice 3D jewelled effect.

If you fancy getting crafty with the kids this Easter, check out Dylons Craft Range.  Projects are only limited by your imagination, so you can be as artistic as you wish making Easter bonnets, decorated eggs, cards and baskets using the paints and pens to great effect.  Even complete novices (like us) can have fun!

They make a really fun activity for a rainy day and allow the kids to make some unique keepsakes of their artwork.  Grandparents will love them!

Mixed Load Laundry with Colour Catcher

When the laundry mountain is threatening to take over your house,  the prospect of  fastidiously sorting through every item according to the washing instructions and colour can prove daunting.  With Colour Catcher from Dylon, you have one less thing to worry about as you can confidently do mixed coloured loads without fear of  colour runs.  

Less sorting also means you can do fewer loads.  No need to wait for a full load of whites or running a load that is half empty.  This reduces the amount of water, electricity and detergent you use...good for the pocket and the planet!

Just pop one sheet of Colour Catcher in with your mixed load and wash in the usual way.

Each sheet acts like a magnet, drawing away the traces of dirt and dye that bleed from coloured clothes and trapping them during the wash.  This keeps the dyes away from the other clothing in the wash avoiding the grubby, grey appearance that can build up over time.

The proof is on the sheet!  

I was sent a box to test for this review.  Ella has a black and white dress which I hate washing!  I never know whether to treat it as a 'light' or a 'dark'.  With a Colour Catcher sheet in the wash, I was confident that I could I put it in a mixed coloured load and not worry about it.  It came out perfectly.  It is these type of items that benefit most from using a Colour Catcher, giving you peace of mind.  With the fashion for colour blocking or monochrome clothing, it is reassuring to have a product that enables you to wash the garment without worrying that you'll ruin it.   *Care still needs to be taken when doing laundry (see the Precautions list below).

Colour Catcher is available in three sizes 12, 24 and 40 sheet packs priced at £2.89, £3.65 and £4.99 RRP respectively.  Available at Tesco, Asda, Wilkinson, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.  

*Precautions:

• Certain fabrics are more susceptible to colour runs; red or dark coloured fabrics and cotton garments. To ensure maximum effectiveness for items with poor colour fastness use 2 or 3 sheets
• New coloured garments should be washed separately for at least the first 5 or 6 washes whilst certain large dark coloured items, such as jeans and towels, should always be washed separately
• Effectiveness cannot be guaranteed where large quantities of dye run from non-colourfast garments
• Reasonable care should be taken if mixing colours with whites
• Always follow the washing machine manufacturer’s instructions

Designing T-Shirts with Dylon

We've been having fun with Dylon's products Inside the Wendy House.  First we made a brilliant pair of Flamingo Pink Denim Cut-Off Shorts using Dylon's Hand Dye.  Then, using a selection of Dylon's craft products, Ella and Kizzy made personalised T-shirts.

                                   

The products were fun and easy to use.  Kizzy was a bit messy but everything washed off her hands, her clothes and the table easily with soap and water!  I possibly should have had her in an apron and put down plastic sheeting first!!  I am one of those haphazard mums when it comes to craft products!!

The paints were lovely to use and went on smoothly and easily.  The colours were vibrant.  Kizzy loved the 3D paints which added an element of fun to the proceedings!

The dyes are fixed using a hot iron for 1-2 minutes, and the fabric remains soft. 

It's a lovely idea to let your child get creative and design their own T-shirt.  Kizzy is very proud of her creation.  (The T-shirts were from Primark.  Ella's cost £1 and Kizzy's was £1.90.)

The craft materials were supplied by Dylon.

Making Pink Cut-Off Shorts with Dylon

We were lucky enough to be  sent a selection of goodies from Dylon to try out Inside the Wendy House.  One of the products that was included was Dylon's Fabric Dye for Hand Use.  They come in 24 vibrant shades including Sunflower Yellow, Tropical Green and Flamingo Pink.  Each sachet contains enough dye to transform smaller items.  You just need to add water and salt to permanently change the colour of your chosen items.

With the economic climate taking its toll, and with the importance of trying to re-use and recycle  in order to help the environment, brands like Dylon can help by revamping any old, tired wardrobe.  Clothing that may have been thrown out can now be given a second lease of life.

With the help of Dylon's Flamingo Pink Dye, we transformed a pair of old white jeans into a fun and funky pair of cut-off denim shorts for Kizzy.

She enjoyed helping me and it was a very easy process.

The colour was vibrant and bright, and the dye took really well.


Here is a video of what we did!

Dylon also produce some great craft products for getting creative with fabrics.  Fabric pens and paints will let you unleash the inner designer and add colourful embellishments to personalise clothing, make unique t-shirts or add 3D sparkle to your jeans.  We'll be vlogging about our attempts soon so watch this space!

Check out Dylon's Facebook page for competitions, news and fun!