Just a Couple of Spring Kits 

Here are a few new spring kits that I've listed in the shop on Etsy!  I will be making some more in the month or so in spring and summer colors.

These four are two-tone kits and not by intention.  I used a different source for the stretch satin and it isn't the same as what I get from my other supplier!  It doesn't dye well at all!  The reason is that there is too much poly in it and not enough nylon.  Polyester takes a completely different dye and process than does nylon, which is yet again different from dyeing cottons or plant fibers.

Yes, that yellow is really, really bright.  It is called Daffodil Yellow for a reason!  The Pale Lilac is a bit too streaky and the price on that has been reduced a bit, too.

More New Kits, All Sale Priced!

The sale prices are still good until Jan. 31, 2011, so I've made up some more new kits, there are three black ones in the Etsy shop, plus all the colored ones you see below.  I know it is the middle of winter and we could all do with a touch of Spring, so most of these colors are pretty spring colors.  There's Pale Iris, Pale Wedgewood Blue, Spring Green, Pale Sea Breeze, Soft Pink and Ivory (this one dyed up really nicely into a two tone all by itself!).  I also dyed up a red - great for Valentine's Day coming up.  Any of these would look nice combined with a black kit, but I think a fun combination would be the Pale Sea Breeze and the Spring Green.  The back row all have the wider elastics (5/8" bottom finishing elastic; 3/4" strap elastic, rings and/or sliders), and the front row have the regular elastics. 

All packed and ready to ship!

Some New Kits Available and Sale!

The number of available kits in the Etsy shop was getting sort of low, so I've dyed some additional kits.  Now available in wider elastics (5/8" lower finishing elastic, and 3/4" strap elastics and rings and/or sliders) is Charcoal Grey, Lilac and Coral Pink.  In the regular elastics (1/2" elastics for lower finishing and straps) is Twilight Blue and Pale Golden Wheat. 

The Charcoal Grey and Lilac work really well together and would make nice mix and match pieces or combine the two sets for a matching top and bottom. 

The Pale Golden Wheat coordinates nicely with many of the currently available colors (shown below from left to right are Mochachino, Deep Terracotta Rose, Coral Pink and Twilight Blue):

I've even made up a singular mix and match kit, Deep Terracotta Rose and Nude.  Some of the components are commerically dyed (as you can see they don't quite match; now you know why I dye kits!), but there is enough to mix and match for a unique garment, plus there is a bonus piece of wide lace to play with:

From now until midnight on Jan. 31, 2011, all kits in the shop are $5.00 off!  That means, most kits are now $10.00.  For some of you, that means free shipping!  It doesn't matter how many kits you buy, each one is $5.00 off.  The prices have already been changed in Etsy to reflect the sale.  If you custom order a kit in any color that I dye, you will get $5.00 off of those kits, too!  Enjoy!

New Fall/Winter Colors

I noticed my stock of kits was way down and decided to get some new colors at the same time.  You can see all the new colors in the photo below.  There is a Twilight Blue, a deep blue that has a bit of teal to it rather than grey like Wedgewood Blue;  there is a Chocolate Brown (more on that below), a Charcoal Grey, Sangria, a really pretty deep wine color, and a Royal Blue, which is less bright than the photo and less bright than the 80's Electric Blue color.

All of these colors would work nicely with white or beige for a two toned effect, as well as with the Pale Pink kit, currently on Etsy.  Here is the Chocolate Brown and Charcoal Grey with the Pale Pink lace:

All of these colors dyed up nicely for the most part.  The Chocolate Brown was a bit streaky and parts of the components dyed up a denim blue color.   I'm not sure if I want to dye up this color again.  It was a strange dye job, too.  The fabrics absorbed all of the purple dyes first, then they absorbed all the yellows to make a brown.  It was a little fascinating and a little worrisome to watch!

The Charcoal Grey had a bit of mottling, too.  Then I discovered a flaw in the lace.  There are some small holes half way between the scalloped borders that I didn't see until the lace was dyed.  I checked the other pieces and they're fine.  That's a little bit of a bummer because this lace is wider than my usual lace - almost 5" wide (see lace comparison photo below) and is part of a few kits with wider elastics. 

 The wider elastic kits (5/8" bottom finishing elastic and 3/4" straps, rings and sliders) available now are:  Charcoal Grey, Sangria and Twilight Blue.  Chocolate Brown and Royal Blue have the regular sized elastics (1/2" bottom finishing elastic and 1/2" straps, rings and sliders).  They are already in the Etsy shop with the Charcoal Grey and Choc. Brown being sold at a discount.

A Couple New Kits

I wanted to dye up a couple of kits in some deeper colors for the shop, so I chose a Deep Watermelon Red and a Deep Terracotta Rose.  Both kits have the patterned powernet, the last of the piece I had, and the red kit has the last piece of lace from NYC.  They both dyed up beautifully and will coordinate well with the current Soft Pink and Golden Vanilla Kits for mix and match fun.

Deep Watermelon Red:

Deep Terracotta Rose:

A Few New Kits!

It's been a very busy summer, which means there has been less time for dyeing kits!  I hope that I'll be able to get the stock back up in the Etsy shop this fall when the children go back school.  In the meanwhile, I've dyed up Golden Vanilla, Soft Pink and Pale Lilac.  I've got a Wedgewood Blue in the dye pot right now, too, and a Pale Iris going into the pot tomorrow morning.

Both the Golden Vanilla and Soft Pink have some pretty lace that I picked up in NYC last time I was there.  I only bought enough for two kits, and these are the ones.  I will definitely buy more of this lace - it dyed up nicely and some parts have a nice sheen, while other are more matte, making for an interesting lace.

The Wedgewood Blue and Pale Iris kits will have some new powernet that I got in that has a pattern.  I only bought a small amount, so this will only be in four kits that I dye.  This is how it looks in white, before dyeing, and should be interesting to work with for back bands and even overlays.

The Pale Lilac, sadly (for me, but good for you!), has a few small flaws that can be cut around:

This is a gorgeous color, but I'm going to have to offer this kit at a discount due to the flaws.  If you want this kit, it will be $10, plus $5 for Priority Shipping or $3.00 for 1st class shipping.  Please email me at summersetbanks "at" gmail "dot" com and we'll get everything set and the kit into the mail.

Some Bigger Kits

I've dyed up a couple of bra/panty kit combos and put those in the shop since I haven't done those in a while.  That puts me out of stock on panty lace/elastic, but I can always get more!

First, a color I haven't done in a while, Mochachino.  Note that there are two different kinds of panty elastic for this kit:  standard elastic and a 1" wide stretch lace.  There is also a 36" x approx. 24" cut of the satin;  this is double the amount I'd put in a bra only kit.

There is one small flaw in the center of the satin yardage, but it is very small and easily cut around.  Just thought I'd let you know that up front.

Then there is a Super Kit - this one is really fun for mix and match opportunities.  This one is a black, white and fuchsia combo.  This kit has *almost* everything for 3 bras or for a bra/panty combo or maybe a few of each, depending on the size you're making.  The only things this kit does not come with fuchsia fabrics (I found some wide white stretch lace, but it isn't shown).  It *will* ship with 3 pair of wires.

Lastly, and not for sale in Etsy I do have some hand painted fabrics.  I'm not sure that I like them as well as I thought, but if you like them, I'd be happy to dye up matching elastics/findings to go with them.  The satin is muted compared to the powernet, and is a generous 36" x approx. 24" cut; twice what I put in the regular bra kits.  If you want this as a bra/panty kit, panty elastic will be on order (as will be a wire size or two I'm out of).

Email me if you'd like the painted fabrics or put together as a kit:  summersetbanks "at" gmail "dot" com.

One last thing, I will be unavailable to ship kits on Friday and Saturday.  Any kits ordered will be out first thing Monday or Tuesday (after I get your wire size!) or whenever the Post Office is accepting mail after the 4th of July holiday.