Give a white shirt a colour injection with tie dye.
Tie dyeing holds endless fascination for most people and my son Zac is no exception. Spotting the bucket of raspberry pink dye that I had used to dye the dress in the Restyle story, he brought out one of his white t-shirts and some strong rubber bands and gave it a fresh look by tie dyeing. By Judy Newman
Kids and adults alike can all have fun with this easy, effective technique. All you need are plain light coloured cotton t-shirts (or whatever else needs a new lease of life, but remember natural fibres take up colour easily); strong rubber bands, a bucket of dye and an area, preferably outside, where you can get busy and possibly messy.
Use strong rubber bands to secure the shirt.
Wet the fabric before adding it to the dye bath. Natural fibres take dye easily; always follow the manufacturer’s directions.
Make sure the fabric is submerged in the dye bath.
The pattern formed by rubber bands depends on how you use them. Pull up a peak of fabric and secure it with bands to create circles. Or bunch up the entire shirt across the width and use the bands to wrap it to get bands of colour as Zac has done.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to prepare the dye. Wet the shirt before putting it into the dye bucket, and make sure you swirl it around in the bucket so it dyes evenly (a chopstick makes a good swizzle stick and rubber gloves are a must).
When the shirt has been in the dye bath for long enough (usually at least an hour), rinse thoroughly and allow to drip-dry before removing the bands. Then voila! – admire your pattern and plan the next design!
Another way to dye is to peg your clothes on the line and then spray on with a spray bottle. You can still use rubber bands or string for a different look, around stencils or mix colours!
When I was at high school in the early 70′s I remember doing some tie dying. We had to find some way of displayinmg what we had done so I got an old bike wheel, took the spokes out of it and secured my tie dyed piece in the bike wheel. Tie dye shirts, T shirts and skirts were the rage then as well.
I tie dyed a pair of white jeans in a hot pink, then blue colour. They were my favourite pair until they just wore out. I always got comments on them.
Just like the hippies in the 70′s, I remember doing this years ago! Just shows, nothing goes out of style.
Well done Zac.
Well done Zac.
What a good sport Zac is!