Homemade tie dye can be fun and creative.
Tie dye designs have been popular since the 1960s and are a creative activity to create on your own. It can be a way to recycle or renew your white clothes. You can engage children into it. It is full of possibilities. Tie dye has evolved into something close to an art form, and there are many techniques to do it at home. Homemade tie dye can be quite fun.
Instructions
1. Fold and/or tie your fabric according to the design you want to create. Folding and tying are the key to tie dye, and many different patterns can be obtained. The idea is to not let the dyes penetrate your fabric evenly by these folds and knots--the creases will remain white or the initial color of your fabric or will become a gradient of your dye.
For a spiral design, pinch the fabric in one area that will become the center of your spiral, and twist it around tight. You can add rope or rubber bands to make it tighter and add fine lines.
For stripes, roll your fabric into a tube shape and tie ropes along the tube at the interval you desire your stripes to be. The stripes will run perpendicular to your tube. You can also tie in vertical pleats for horizontal stripes or tie in horizontal pleats for vertical stripes.
You can fold randomly, too, for a surprise pattern.
Tie your folds very tight so that the dye will not penetrate through the folds.
2. Prepare your dye-baths. Wear rubber gloves before handling dyes so you do not color your fingers. Dissolve your dye in hot water according to the dye's instructions (each brand is slightly different) in a large pail. The hotter the water, the stronger the dye. For darker or brighter colors, double the suggested amount of dye.
You can also pour those mixtures into squirt bottles or spray bottles, and squirt them directly on to your fabric (see Step 3).
3. Dip your fabric into your dye baths. If you are using several colors, it's recommended to start with the lightest color. Dip your fabric--or the part of your fabric you want colored--in the lightest color for the time indicated or until your fabric is slightly darker than your desired hue, rinse well and repeat with the next lightest color.
You can also squirt the dye mix directly on to your fabric in different areas. If you do this, make sure not to have complementary colors adjacent to each other or you will end up with a muddy brown.
It is recommended to use colors next to each other as they appear in the color wheel: fuchsia, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, purple, fuchsia.
You could also use primary colors only and obtain secondary colors in the areas where they touch.
4. Rinse well after your last dye in several baths of cold water and then warm water until the water runs clear.
5. Untie all of your knots, and admire your work! Wash the items by hand or in your washing machine on cold cycle. Keep washing them in cold water the first few times and then wash according to the fabrics' instructions with like-colors.
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