How To: Tie Dye a Shirt

Tie Dying a shirt, is definitely something that I enjoy doing and am good at. I have made many tie dye shirts of all different combinations of colors. Each shirt that I make looks different. I make at least one tie dye shirt a year, if I am at a summer camp it is something the children do. It is a lot of fun and something that everyone should know how to do!! Tie Dying shirts or anything is really easy and can be done in a few steps.

Step 1: The easiest thing to do would be to buy a tie dying kit, in a kit what would usually be included would be: Dye (normally Red, Blue, Yellow), gloves, applicator bottles, rubber bands, and soda ash. Making a tie dye shirt this way is a little different from they way someone might be used to making it. Instead of dipping sides of your shirt into dyed water, you use the bottles to directly apply the dye. Your shirts will turn out to be a lot more vibrant. So the first thing you want to do is buy the kit.
Step 2: The second step would be to buy the shirts. You have to buy white shirts, and the best shirts to use are natural fiber fabric. These are the best shirts to use because they absorb the dye the best and your shirts will be brighter.
Step 3: After you buy all of your supplies you can get started on making the shirts. The first thing you have to do with the shirts are soak them in warm water, soaking them in warm water stretches out the fibers so again your shirts will turn out the best.
Step 4: Tie your rubber bands around the shirt the way you want, my favorite way is making the spiral so you would put one hand in the center of your shirt and twist the shirt and wrap it tightly until your shirt makes a coil. After you make the spiral then you put rubber bands around it so it stays together.
Step 5: The next step is to soak your shirt in soda ash for a half hour and rinse the shirt out. At this point you can fill up the bottles of die with water
Step 6: The last and final step for the shirt is to apply the dye any way you would like after you put the die on the shirt, you have to rinse the shirt, wash it, dry it and then you can wear it!!

Tie Dying is an activity that can be done almost any time of the year, but it is most fun in warmer weather when you can do it outside. I hope that you enjoy my method to tie dying a shirt, and the steps I have taken, can be used with any garment. Hopefully my "How to" guide will help anyone create a pretty tie dye shirt!!! :)