Craft #005 - Tie-Dye T-shirts

I do love an eye-catching Tee and what better way than a colourful tie-dye top. I have searched a while for the perfect one and I couldn't find it anywhere, so I thought why not make one just the way I want it. It is so simple and fun I thought I would share with you lovely lot how to achieve a colourful tie-dye tee.

Equipment needed:

- Plain coloured T-shirt (preferably white as the colour shows up better)
- Fabric Dye (I used Dylon hand dye in colours Sunflower Yellow and Bahama Blue)
- 250g Salt per sachet
- 6.5 litres of warm water (per colour)
- Plastic bowl or sink
- Rubber gloves
- Elastic bands

 Instructions:

1. Soak the T-shirt in warm water and leaver damp.

2. There are many different patterns you can have on your T-shirt it all depends on how you tie it. I wanted a swirly pattern and to achieve this you have to pinch the centre of the top between the armpits. From this point twist the top tightly until it is in a tight circle.

3. The next step is to add the elastic bands. To achieve the swirls place the elastic bands breaking the circle in to six segments. These will work as a guide later on.

4. Using the rubber gloves, dissolve the dye in 500ml of warm water.

5. Fill the bowl or sink with approx 6 litres of warm water.

6. Add the 250g of salt and dye to the warm water and stir well.

7. Repeat steps 4-6 for all colours. 

8. Now it is time to dye the tee using a jug pour your first colour into one segment of your T-shirt.

9.  Alternate colours until you have gone the whole way round.

 10. Once you have gone the whole way round, flip your T-shirt and repeat the steps on the other side, making sure the segments match up. 

11. Leave your T-shirt for an hour to soak up all the dye. Once the hour is up without untying the elastic bands rinse in cold water until the water runs clear. All you have to do now is hang up the T-shirt and let it dry. 

Then Ta-da!!! you have a new Tie-Dye Tee.

This is how mine turned out and I love it! What is cool about making your own tie-dye tee is that it will come out different every time. As you can see my two colours blended together and created bits of green throughout the top, which adds something to the tee.

Alternatively if you only want a single colour tie-dye tee you can submerge the T-shirt in the dye and leave it to soak for an hour. The tee on the right was done using this process, it was also tied together differently. To achieve that pattern pick up the tee from the centre and twist into a sausage shape and tie elastic bands around the t-shirt to keep it in place.