The tie-dye trend is still going strong my friends! With Summer upon us, it is the perfect time to show off those brightly tie-dyed creations! If you checked out our bleach tie-dye post, then you will also enjoy using colored dyes, too! Additionally, this DIY project is perfect to do at home with younger children, having them be creative, getting outside and having fun! Your kids will love trying the different techniques and seeing all of the patterns they can create with this DIY tie-dye method.
Supplies You Will Need- DIY Tie-Dye
You will need white clothing to tie-dye. If you don’t have any at home, Target and Walmart have affordable options. Additionally, you will need a tie-dye set. There are many cute tie-dye sets available online. Some are affordable, but others are pretty pricey! Purchase what works within your budget. See below for what we purchased.
White T-Shirts-This is a pack of 5 white t-shirts at an affordable price. We wanted to make a few different tie-dye techniques so we purchased additional shirts. Purchase whatever white clothing you want to tie-dye.
Tulip One-Step 5 Color Tie-Dye Kit and Individual Tulip One Step Tie-Dye Kit– Both options come with a set of protective gloves and rubber bands. The 5 Color Kit comes in different blends including Carousel, Neon, Mermaid, Rainbow, Shibori and Ultimate. You can also purchase the Individual One Step Kit if you wanted a specific color not in the 5 Color Kit.
Saran Wrap– You can purchase at any local grocery store.
Prepping Instructions- DIY Tie-Dye
- Make sure you are working outdoors or on a well-covered surface since the dye will stain whatever it touches.
- Wear clothes that you don’t care about if they get dye on them. You never know when that squeeze bottle may get out-of-hand (especially with kids involved!)
- Decide what tie-dye pattern you want on your garment. The kits mentioned above come with a visual instructional sheet showing different designs and techniques that are easy-to-follow. This will give you a better idea of how your garment will look once done. Don’t worry about messing up! It’s very hard to make a mistake when tie-dying.
Tie-Dying Instructions- DIY Tie-Dye
- Lay your garment out flat and twist or roll the shirt to follow the technique you chose. We decided to do a spiral technique using two colors and then a bullseye technique in all colors to create a rainbow effect.
- Wrap up your garment with rubber bands according to instructions. For our spiral design (shown above), we intersected the rubber bands to look like a pizza pie.
- Follow the instructions on the kit you purchase to mix dye. For the Tulip Dye Kit, you only need to add water.
- Fill to line, cap it and shake until powder dissolves!
Tie-Dye!
- Now the fun part begins! Grab those protective gloves and start tie-dying!
- A good rule of thumb is to skip every other rubber band section you made with your rubber bands and squirt those areas each with a different color or alternate colors if only using two. Don’t forget to flip it over and dye the other side, too!
- After you are done, keep on your gloves and wrap the garment in saran wrap to keep it wet. Let it sit for 6 hours or overnight to achieve the brightest colors possible.
Post Tie-Dye DIY Instructions
- After garments have set, unwrap from saran wrap and take off the rubber bands.
- Rinse each garment out thoroughly to remove excess dye.
- If you tie-dyed more than one piece of clothing, you will want to wash and dry each piece separately in the washing machine and not together.(The wash cycle will cause the dyes to bleed into one another if washed together.)
- Once the garment is dry and ready to wear, try on your new creation and show it off to all of your friends!
We all were so excited with our tie-dye creations and we couldn’t wait to wear them! We would love to see what fun tie-dye designs you make when you give this DIY Tie-Dye project a try! Share with us the creations you make in the comments section below. We can’t wait to do this again this Summer!
Interested in other DIY projects? Make sure read to read our posts on:
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