Skill Level
Beginner. Adult supervision needed
Time to Make
1 hour + washing + drying time
Adult Supervision Needed
Yes
How to Make
Before you start:
Soak a T-shirt in a bowl of water then squeeze hard to remove as much water as possible, or rinse and spin dry the T-shirt in a washing machine. Follow the instructions in the kit for adding water to the dye bottle and applying it onto the fabric.
To make a circle pattern:
- Lay out the damp T-shirt flat on a clean work surface. Fold the T-shirt in half along the length, then in half again across the width so the T-shirt is folded into quarters. Fold the T-shirt diagonally along the middle, so the bottom edge to meets the side, fold again with another diagonal along the middle to make a thin, pointed shape.
- Wrap an elastic band around the fabric, 4-5cm around from the pointed end. Wrap more 4 or 5 elastic more bands along the length of the fabric.
- Cover your work surface with the polythene sheet from the kit then place a wire rack on top. Wear the gloves from the kit to protect your hands. Place the T-shirt onto the wire rack then squeeze coloured dye over the fabric. Squeeze colours between the elastic bands. Turn the T-shirt over to add more dye. Squeeze the fabric so the dye reaches inside the folds.
- Leave the T-shirt to dry for 6-8 hours on the wire rack. Remove all the elastic bands then open out the T-shirt. Leave it to dry out again if the middle is still damp.
- Rinse the T-shirt in water then leave it to dry out again. Cover the bag with a thin cloth then press with a warm iron.
Top Tip
To make a target pattern with colour bands radiating from the middle, apply different dye colours between the elastic bands.
Tagged with:
Tie-Dye
