It's time for Tie-Dye!
As the days get hotter, it's time to add some sunshine to your wardrobe. My husband and I tried our hand at Tie Dying for the first time the other night and had a blast together. We think you will too!
Because the dye is really messy and obviously meant to "stain" fabric, I would not recommend this for a family activity with small children.
Teens or maybe even preteens would probably be fine.
What you need
- Something to dye - white items are preferred but that doesn't mean they have to be completely white. Consider bags, scarfs, shirts, socks, or really anything made of cloth.
- The Tie-dye dye: Unless you are planning to make this into a "dye hard" hobby we recommend buying a simple kit. The ones we bought were inexpensive and came with not only the dye but also plastic gloves and a bunch or rubber bands. We picked ours up from Hobby Lobby, but there are lots available online as well.
- Plastic/ latex Gloves & rubber bands (if not included with your kit). Make sure to put on the gloves before you even open the kit! One of our kits had some loose powder from the dye in the packaging, and things that dye clothes also dye your hands!
- A disposable plastic table cloth! Trust me, it's a must!
- Something to catch the dye as you pour it over. This could be a number of things. We found great success with a deep pan with a cooling rack over the top. This allowed us to place our shirts on the rack, apply the dye, and let all the runoff drip into the pan.
When it comes to mixing your dye, or pre-wetting fabric vs dry application there are lots of different methods online, but you'll want to follow the directions that come with the dye you purchase.
Now you are ready to get started. Here is a video with a few different design ideas just to get your brain started.
You can check out the picture of our first-time results down below.
Have fun and try something new. Even if you've done tie-dye before there are always new patterns and techniques to try.
