DIY: Not Your Ugly Chanukah Sweater

CHAUNAKAH CRAFTS

PHOTOS BY BROOKE LEIBERMAN

DIY: Not Your Ugly Chanukah Sweater

BROOKE LEIBERMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Holiday sweaters usu- Menorah for my oldest, and ally leave me feeling my middle got different ways left out as the only to spell Chanukah with a one wearing blue instead menorah on the back. of the colors most other We did a prewash of the co-workers and students shirts before starting. are wearing for Xmas. I do own a store-bought sweater, DIRECTIONS but a teacher friend of mine • Start by putting a piece of was telling the story of how cardboard inside the shirt her aunt made her a hid- to prevent the bleach from eous sweater complete with going through. Next, you golden gelt sewn in. It gave can use chalk to draw on me an inspirational spark. How could I make a cool Chanukah shirt? MATERIALS

I ordered some sweatshirts • Sweatshirt with from Brody’s and went to 50% or more cotton work with my reverse tie dye. content Royal blue worked the best. • Splash-less bleach

My kids and I sat and • Paintbrush thought of some ideas first. • Chalk We went with “Maccabi • Spray bottle Strong” for the little guy, • Cardboard “Shine Bright” with a

the shirt. • Arrange a clean workspace with a plastic cover. Now you are ready to reverse tie dye. • I put a small amount of the splash-less bleach in a yogurt cup and dipped my paintbrush to create the design. Less is better, since it can spread easily. Sometimes the reaction happens right away, or it

may take a few minutes. • If you don’t remember what you covered, wait for it to lighten before you continue and you can always go back and fix up anything you don’t like. • If you would like, with a spray bottle, mix a 50/50 bleach and water mixture. You can use this to carefully add some drips and design around the edges. Be very careful, since once you spray, it will be there forever! • Once your design is finished, you want to wait for the bleach to remove as much color as it can but leave for no more than one hour. The color it will turn is based on the dye used in the fabric. Some blues will go totally white, but others will have greys and reds, etc. • To stop the reaction and reduce any spread of the bleach, wash it fully in cold water under running water. Then transfer it right into the washing machine with an extra rinse cycle. Dry normally and wear to impress.

Brooke Leiberman of Farmington Hills is a mom and wife, educator and artist who enjoys sharing her skills and inspiring others to make art. She runs the Ravitz Art Center at Tamarack Camps and teaches art at Dolsen Elementary in South Lyon.