Crafting: Tie Dye

Tie dying is so much fun! Have you ever tried it?  A few summers ago at camp I was a ‘tie dye’ specialist and taught it to all the girls every week all summer long.  Since then I’ve wanted something that I could print and put in my binder to have an easy refresher and something I can copy and pass out when needed.

Things to tie dye:

Shirts, shorts, pants, socks, underwear, sheets, pillow cases, towels, wash cloths, bags, scarves, bandannas, yarn, hats, skirts, dresses, shoes, tights, banners, flags, stuffed animals, ties, pet beds, table cloths, place mats, Christmas stockings, aprons, blankets, doll clothes, hair accessories.

Other ways to tie dye:

• Write/draw with gel glue, let dry, dip in (one color of) dye, wash and wear.
• Get a backwards tie dye look by using bleach on colored shirts.
• Draw on a shirt with sharpies and use a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol to spread.

Creating shapes:

• To create a shape (such as a heart), lightly sketch the shape with a pencil on the fabric. Gather the fabric along the shape and rubber band. Continue to rubber band down the fabric (like you would for a bullseye).
• You can also sew a bit of thread loosely through the shape, and once done, pull tight to group the fabric.  Continue to rubber band as usual (including over the thread).

Tips:

Be creative!
Use extra plastic, lots of extra plastic.
Read all of the directions before starting. Each brand/kit is different.
When dying, look for white spots between the folds. Your shirt may be too white if these are overlooked.
The tighter the rubber bands, the whiter the spots. If you don’t want any white, loosen rubber bands.
Rinse out with the rubber bands on, at first, to keep the white spots whiter.
Rinse out until the water turns clear, then rinse a bit more.
Colors with red take longer to rinse out. (Red, Purple, Orange)
Vinegar/soda ash may help the color set depending on what brand of dye you are using.  Check instructions to see if this is needed.
Apply light colors first. This will help keep darker colors from bleeding over later.
Fabric that is made of natural fibers will dye the best. (Cotton, silk, etc.)
Dye towels while wet, otherwise it will take too much dye.

Extra ideas:

Have a tie dye party!
Have everyone wear their tie dye on the same day.

My favorite thing to do is to stencil my name on the back of my shirt.