How To Tie Dye Tshirts

Tie-dyed t-shirts were fun and popular during the 1960's -- and now the look is enjoying a return to popularity. With boutiques selling them for upwards of $25, consider making them yourself. It's easy and a great project to share with kids of all ages. Best of all, when you are done, you'll have a memory you can wear!

What's most important to remember when tie dying is to prepare your work area. Find a spot that you'll have easy access to water and that you won't feel too cramped. You also will be working with water and dye, so be sure the floor is washable. Working outside is the best (who cares if the bucket tips over on the grass?) but the garage is fine if you must be indoors (let's say this is a rainy-day project).

You will need:

• Dye
• Rubber gloves
• A smock to protect the clothes you are wearing
• Water
• Buckets (one for for each color of dye)
• Rubber bands or twine
• A clean-up towel
• A white cotton t-shirt

Remember when choosing dye that the colors will bleed, creating the desired tie-dyed effect. Opting for combinations of the primary colors (red, yellow and blue) will result in a finished project that is not brown or muddy-looking, and may have the added benefit of producing secondary colors on the t-shirt (green, purple and orange).

Here are the steps to successfully tie-dying your shirt.

1. Put on the rubber gloves and dissolve the dye in the buckets according to the package directions. Stir to ensure no crystals remain.
2. Now you will wrap the rubber bands (or tie the string) onto the shirt. You can twist the shirt like a snake and wrap rubber bands securely up and down the snake. The more rubber bands, the more interesting the pattern. You can also pinch the fabric between your fingers making a little mountain of fabric. Then, using your other hand, secure a rubber band under your fingers at the base of the "mountain." It will look like a piece of the t-shirt is standing up. That will create a circle or sun-burst pattern once it is in the dye.
3. Now it's time for the dye. Carefully dip each piece of the shirt into the dye you desire. The dye spreads as it is absorbed into the cotton. Or you can choose a background color and then add other colors. For example, if you use yellow first, you could dip the entire shirt in yellow and then dip sections in the blue (resulting in green) and red (resulting in orange).
4. Once you have dyed the shirt, do not untie it. Let it air dry for an hour, then throw it -- still tied -- into the dryer. This will set the dye.
5. After the shirt is completely dry, untie it and admire your work!

You can alternatively use squeeze bottles for the dye. After you dissolve the dye in the buckets, simply put that liquid in the squeeze bottles. It's a great way to have  a bit more control of the dye colors.This method works well for not only t-shirts, but also large items, such as towels.

Launder the item separately for the first few washes, so the dye does not run on other clothes; use cold water.

You'll find children love to work on this type of project; in a supervised environment this can produce t-shirts that will be fun to wear and reminisce about how it was made for years to come.