This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Towson chapter.
Everyone loves Tie Dye! Follow these steps for the perfect spring tie dyed top!
Materials:
- A Sunny Day (so you can dye outdoors)
- Rubber Bands
- Tie Dye Kit ($9.99 from Michael’s)
- Water
- Rubber/Plastic Gloves
- Saran Wrap
Step One: Plain White T’s
- Choose a plain, white t-shirt and lay it on a flat surface. The flat surface can be a table, driveway, grass, etc. In this tutorial, the flat surface is a table.
Step Two: Swirly Temple
- Use two fingers, starting in the middle of the shirt, to twist the shirt into a swirl.
Step Three: Bandz
- Tie 5 rubber bands around the swirl. Make sure they all intersect at the center of the swirl. The rubber bands should look similar to a star design.
Step Four: Little Mix
- Pour water up to the fill line into the dye powder. Shake until all of the powder is dissolved. Continue process for all of your bottles of dye.
Step Five: Color Me Purple
- Pour the dye onto each triangle of the swirled shirt. Alternate between colors and try to leave no white spots! This part is a bit messy so gloves are imperative if you don’t want muli-colored fingers for a week!
Step Six: Flip, Flop
- Flip the t-shirt over and do the exact same to this side. Make sure to dye the blank triangles the same color as the colored triangles on the opposite side!
- Repeat this process if you’re dyeing multiple shirts. Your shirt(s) should look like this once it’s done:
Step Seven: Wrap it Up
- Once dyed, wrap your shirt in saran wrap. It should look like a ball of plastic afterwards (if you’re doing multiple shirts at one time, wrap each t-shirt in saran wrap individually).
- Make sure you use enough saran wrap to cover the t-shirt. More than enough is always better than less than enough! Let the T-shirts sit in the saran wrap for 6-8 hours!
Step Eight: Rinse it Out
- Carefully remove the saran wrap and rubber bands from the t-shirt. Rinse the shirt out in a sink or tub until the water runs clear.
Step Nine: Wash N’ Go
- Place your t-shirt in the washing machine. Use a small amount of detergent (I count to 3 when pouring the detergent!) and let your t-shirt wash on warm/cold with a medium spin!
- Your shirt should look like this once it’s done washing:
- Throw your t-shirt in the dryer and then your done!
Voilà!
Enjoy your tie dyed shirts and be sure to tag @HerCampusTowson on Twitter to show us your cool designs!— Side Note: Practice makes perfect. If your shirt doesn’t turn out how you like, keep trying until you find yourself proud to wear your own tie dye shirt. Good luck, Tigers!{{Video tutorial & all photos in the tutorial provided by: TutorialsByA on YouTube! Subscribe to her for many more DIYs! I know I am!}}