Diagonal Stripe Tie-Dye T-Shirt

Create a stunning tie-dye effect with a 2-colour half and half diagonal effect. Once you’ve mastered how to create a tie-dye t-shirt, you could make matching t-shirts for your friends too!

Diagonal Stripe Tie-Dye T-Shirt

Skill Level

Beginner

Time to Make

1 hour + washing + drying

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 diagonal pattern:

  1. Lay out the damp T-shirt flat on a clean work surface. Use a washable pen to draw a diagonal line across the T-shirt from one of the bottom corners to the top.
  2. Fold up the corner of the T-shirt 5-6cm with the line in the middle. Continue to fold the fabric into a series of zigzag pleats, keeping the line positioned in the middle. As you make each pleat, smooth out the fabric at the sides to keep the folds as straight and neat as possible. When you reach the sleeves, fold them into the zigzags with the rest of the T-shirt. The T-shirt should end up as a long pleated strip.
  3. Wrap an elastic band around the middle of the T-shirt to hold the shape. Wrap a few more elastic bands along the length so the pleats stay in place.
  4. Cover your work surface with the polythene sheet from the kit then place a wire rack on top. Place the T-shirt on the rack then squeeze dye over the fabric. Turn the T-shirt over then add dye to the other side. Use purples and pinks on one half and greens and blues on the other half. Or, use different colours if you prefer.
  5. 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, try to keep the colours separate by holding the fabric under a running tap or dipping it into a bowl of water to remove most of the dye from each half. Once this is done, you can wash the whole T-shirt together. Leave to dry. Cover the T-shirt with a thin cloth then press with warm iron.
Diagonal Stripe Tie-Dye T-Shirt Diagonal Stripe Tie-Dye T-Shirt Diagonal Stripe Tie-Dye T-Shirt

Top Tip

Washable marker lines should disappear after rinsing the T-shirt, in case any trace is left, draw the line on the back.

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