The JumpStart Blog

Here’s a groovy craft for you and your kids! Tie-dying a shirt is simple, creative, and a lot less expensive than buying a tie-dye shirt at the store. It also lets you explore cool colors and express your inner psychedelic self!

What you will need:

• White cotton T-shirt, tank top, or dress. The only two important factors are that they are white and cotton.
• 2 rubber bands or hair ties
• 3 different colors of powdered dye
• 3 empty squeeze bottles
• A plastic bag
• Scissors

Here is how to create this far-out shirt!

1. Lay the article of clothing on a flat surface.
2. Pinch and grasp the garment where you want the main tie-dye circle to be. Make sure to grab the front and back of the shirt.
3. Take a rubber band and wrap it around the pinched part of the garment. Where you place the rubber band determines the width between the colors. We suggest 2 ½ inches from the tip of the pinch.
4. Wrap another rubber band 2 ½ inches from the first rubber band. You can repeat this as many times as you like, depending on how many tie-dye rings you want to make.
5. Put on the rubber gloves and make the dye according to the instructions on the package.
6. Pour different colors of dye into separate squeeze bottles. Shake for proper mixture.
7. Carefully squeeze dye color onto each 2 ½ -inch section of the garment. Make sure to squirt the dye into the folds and crevices of the clothing article.
8. Place the garment in a plastic bag and let sit for 2-3 hours.

Here’s where it gets tricky!

9. Remove the garment from the bag.
10. Carefully rinse each rubber-banded section off individually. Make sure to avoid dye runs!
11. Remove rubber bands and lay flat to dry.

There you have it: your very own home-made, funky tie-dye shirt! Remember, each shirt is individualized, so every one will look a little different. That is what makes these shirts so cool! Mix and match colors! Feel free to put rubber bands wherever you like to create original designs. Remember, this is your art, so what it looks like is completely up to you!

Hope you enjoy the craft! Check ya later!

Filed under: Just for Fun! Tagged: | crafts