Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Novak.
Amanda, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I first started exploring hand-dyeing after my husband, Rick, asked me to dye a shirt for him in 2018. I’ve always enjoyed crafting and never turned down learning a new skill, so we set off to our local craft store to buy tie-dye supplies. After about a month of dyeing random items and spending countless hours researching dyeing methods, I was hooked and knew this was something that I wanted to do as more than just a hobby. I also owe a huge shout out to Anna Joyce (Anna Joyce Designs) for showing me around her Portland, Oregon studio and teaching me how to scale up my tie-dye production. My husband and I founded FREE RAIN SPLY (pronounced SUPPLY) in 2019 and hand dye everything in our Colleyville, Texas home studio.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our first year was wildly successful despite the huge learning curve that came with starting our first business. As a maker, I learned very quickly that you must be everything for your business: the maker, accountant, shipper, customer service, sales, social media manager, and other duties as assigned. I’m still figuring out how to balance everything. There were certainly challenges, but I believe learning from what’s thrown at you is a major part of being a successful entrepreneur. It was difficult to create inventory in the correct sizes and colors without knowing exactly what would sell at different shows versus online. For example, our best-selling item on Etsy is hand-dyed bedding sets, but those didn’t always sell well at pop-ups. Now that we have participated in more than a dozen different maker’s markets in Dallas and Fort Worth, I feel like we have a better idea of what inventory to take to shows and what is better to only post online.
FREE RAIN SPLY – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Forget what you think you know about tie dye. This isn’t the primary color, spiral design t-shirt you made at summer camp when you were 12. We embrace traditional and modern garment dyeing techniques to create unique clothing, accessories and home decor. Because of the nature of hand dyeing, no two pieces turn out the same, creating a unique work of art for your home or wardrobe.
One of our favorite techniques is ice dyeing which involves using dry pigment sprinkled over a layer of ice. As the ice melts, some of the pigments used to create the final color separate out, focusing on the various components of the pigment, and creating a prismatic effect that is very different than traditional dyeing methods. Our preferred pattern is more organic and less structured than traditional tie dye patterns (i.e. spiral or bullseye). We also use low-water immersion dyeing as well as intricate shibori techniques for indigo-dyed items. We love dyeing Yeezy 350s, too!
Our dyeing blanks are sourced from companies who either provide USA-made products or ethically sourced items from abroad. We also dye vintage clothing that might otherwise be thrown out – tie dyeing is a great way to hide minor stains! Because dyeing requires the use of water, we tend to work in batches of similar colors which can be rinsed and washed concurrently. The dyes we use are non-toxic and permanently bond to fabrics. When using natural Indigo dyes, the water used during rinse-out is re-purposed for watering our garden or lawn.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Being featured in an artist spotlight by Arts Goggle in October 2019. It meant so much to me because it was our first year to participate and there were over 1,000 other artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FREERAINSPLY
- Email: freerainsply@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freerainsply
Image Credit:
Amanda Novak
Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
