With festival season coming up…(local upcoming festival details here)
or for just plain summer weather, tie dye is the new staple, so why not
attempt your own creation? How do you tie dye? What do you tie? What do
you dye? Follow the steps below to have all your questions answered. Step One: Create a Pattern Make Stripes
Lay your shirt out flat on a table. Roll it from the bottom hem to the
neck, so that you end up with a long tube of shirt. Use string or rubber
bands to tie loops around the shirt roll.
- To create only a few stripes, space out the ties so that there are
three or less. For many stripes, use a dozen or more ties around the
shirt.
- Rolling the shirt upwards will create vertical stripes.
- If you are interested in creating horizontal strips, roll the shirt
from left to right (or vice versa), and tie the strings along this
direction.
Create a Spiral
This is the most basic of the tie dye techniques and one of the most
popular. To create a spiral on your shirt, first lay it flat on a
countertop or table. Then, put your thumb and index finger in the center
of the shirt. Begin moving them in a circular motion, spiralling the
shirt around the center point.
- When you have spiralled the entire shirt, use large rubber bands or
strings to tie the shirt. You will need to create at least six sections,
so use at least three rubber bands or strings over the shirt. It should
be roughly round shaped, and have “pie slices” with the addition of the
ties.
- For a more intricate pattern, use more ties. Make sure that there is one center point at which they all cross though.
- You can create multiple small spirals by spiralling your shirt in multiple smaller sections using the method from above.
- If your shirt begins to form ridges, flatten them out. Your shirt should be spiraled, but it should stay flat on the table.
Create Polka Dots
Take your shirt, and pinch small sections of fabric between your
fingers. Tie a piece of string around the end of the fabric. To create
small dots, only leave one-half to one inch of fabric outside of the
tie. Larger dots can be made by tying the fabric further down so that a
larger section of fabric sticks out.
- You can create target-shaped dots by adding more pieces of string on
the ends of the pieces that have been tied. Adding more ties will
create more rings.
- Try using string that has been dipped in dye before tying it to add an extra ring of color to the outside of your dots.
Make rosettes.
These are small floral shaped dots spread out around your shirt. To do
this, pinch a small section of your shirt together. Transfer the pinched
section to one hand, and then pinch another nearby section. Again,
transfer this section to your opposite hand. When you have a group of
pinched sections, lace them with a string or rubber band.
- Use multiple strings to create more of a striped/spiralled pattern
in your rosette. You can make as many rosettes on your shirt as you have
room for.
- Use more pinches of fabric to create a more detailed rosette. Using only a few will leave a very basic, simple rosette print.
Give your shirt a crumpled look
Give your shirt a crumpled look. The easiest way to tie dye is to take
your shirt and crumple it up however you would like. It should be very
messy and rumpled, not neatly rolled or folded. Then, take as many
strings and rubber bands as you would like, and wrap them all over the
shirt. You can create a pattern with them, but for the most “crumpled”
look don’t follow any direction. Create Pleats
Create pleats. Start at the bottom of your shirt, and fold it upwards
in the accordion style. To do that, you should fold a section towards
the front, and then take that section and fold it towards the back.
Repeat this pattern until the entire shirt has been folded.
- Tie the shirt in as many times as you would like. This style is
similar to creating stripes, so the number of ties you add will
determine the number of stripes.
- Folding the shirt upwards will create vertical pleats. To create
horizontal pleats, follow the same directions and fold the shirt from
left to right (or vice versa).
Step Two: Prepare & Dye Set up a work area Tie dying, or any fabric dying, is a very messybusiness.
To prevent unwanted dye accidents, set up a table with a plastic
covering (like a plastic tablecloth or garbage bags) outside or away
from any furniture or carpet. Make
sure that you have all your supplies gathered with you at your work
area, so that you don’t have to run around with gloves on or worry about
spilling anything in the process of moving things.
- Consider using a cookie drying rack to elevate your shirt above your
workstation, to give you the best access to every angle of it.
- Be sure that you have extra paper towels or old rags handy to wipe up accidental spills.
- Soak your shirt. Many dye packages come with a soda ash solution,
which helps the dye to bond with the fabric of your shirt. Dissolve the
soda ash solution into a bowl of water, and let your shirt soak for
around twenty minutes.
Soak your shirt If your dye did not come with soda
ash, you can soak the shirt in lukewarm water. You can also choose to
buy soda ash separate from your dye kit at a local craft store.
- Do not use cold or hot water, as they will make the dyes less effective.
- If you don’t want the dyes to spread very far on the shirt, don’t
get it wet before adding the colour. Dying a damp shirt helps the color
to travel further, faster. So, if you want your colour to be relatively
isolated, dye it while it’s dry.
Prepare your dyes Each dye package should come with
directions listing specific amounts and proportions of dye to water. If
you would rather wing it or don’t have your directions, mix your
different dyes in bowls of lukewarm water as you like. To create colors
that are more pastel or faded, use more water and less dye. To create
bright, vibrant colors, use most of the dye in the package and not so
much water. Dye your shirt Keep the dye in the bowls to
do a layered dip tie dye, or carefully pour them into spray bottles. To
do a dip dye, pick up your shirt and dunk it into the dye in different
places. You can soak the whole shirt in a single color, and then dip the
shirt (after ringing the initial color out) into other bowls of dye.
Using a spray bottle to dye your shirt is easy; simply squirt the dye
onto the desired area, layering colors if desired.
- If you plan on layering colors, always apply your lightest ones
first. Applying a light color over a dark one will only muddle them.
- If you mix complementary colors – colors opposite each other on the
color wheel – the places they meet will be a brownish hue. These include
orange and blue, yellow and purple, and red and green.
- Don’t feel obligated to dye the entire shirt. You can do a few small
sections of tie dye and allow the original shirt color to show through
on the rest of the area.
- Let the dye set. Wrap the shirt up in a plastic grocery bag or
saran-wrap to keep it moist. Then, set it aside for 4-6 hours so that
the dye has time to react with the cloth. Placing the shirt in a warm
area will help the dye to cure faster.
Step Three: Rinse, Wash & Wear Rinse out the dye
Wearing rubber gloves, take the shirt out of the plastic bag and unwrap
any string or rubber bands that you used. Then, rinse it with cold
water in your sink to remove any excess dye. Be careful not to splash
the water too much to avoid dying your clothes or countertops.
Wash your shirt
Throw your shirt into your washing machine by itself. Put the wash
setting on cold water, and wait for the process to finish. If you want,
you can run your wash again with an empty cycle and a bit of soap to get
rid of any dye that might have transferred to the inside of the
machine.
Dry & Wear! Hang to dry & wear!
If you’re not so crafty, a lot of brands have tie dye items, like these shirts from Volcom and dresses from Roxy.