Every 4th of July that we are home, we buy Old Navy American flag T-shirts for the kids and ourselves. This year, I wanted to do something a little different and thought wouldn’t it neat if we made red, white and blue tie dye shirts. So I did a search. There were a variety of ways to make tie dye shirts. My criteria was that it be easy enough for a 4 year old to participate and easy enough to do in a home that was not our own to avoid a mess.
Here is the video on how to make double spiral tie dye shirts that I used. As compared to some of the other methods, with two dips into the dye, you ended up with a really cool shirt. I couldn’t see using multiple colors and having to do dye multiple areas with the age gap of our two children (ages 4 & 8) which equates to a short attention span for our youngest.
We purchased all three of our shirts at Target for 9.99 USD or less. We did the whole project outdoors and had little mess. The gist of the instructions are that you pinch the fabric in two opposites corners and twist 3-4 times to make a spiral. Then you wrap the remaining t-shirt material into a circular shape so that the whole t-shirt resembles a disc in shape. You use 3 rubber bands: one on the edge and two to form and “X” across the disc to secure the spirals. And then you dip 1/2 the disc into dye for the desired time followed by the other half. Rinse with a hose and walla you have a tie dye t-shirt.
Here are some tips on making tie dye shirts I would follow next time:
* Prep the shirts on an outdoor table and then take the project out into the grass near a hose. Dry the T-shirts in the sun on the grass.
* The tighter the spiral, the more distinct the pattern
* Leaving a band of white between the two colors used allows for more contrast between the colors = more interesting end result.
* At the end instead of wrapping the remaining parts around the two spirals, I would spiral the two twists into each other as tight as you can so there is little to wrap = more distinct pattern.
* Make sure you have a container that allows for the entire shirt to be propped up in the container while you wait. Little hands tire and it will make waiting easier.
Do any of you have other tie dying tips?
Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July!