By Emily Harrington
It’s hard for me to sit down and just “visit.” I like to center social gatherings around some sort of activity. So, when we were having my parents and brother’s family over on a summer Sunday, I wanted to do something fun of which the entire family could take part.
I had seen some tie-dye techniques in a magazine and was intrigued. I had never tie dyed before and thought it looked so vibrant and happy. The other part of me was thinking: two toddlers and permanent dye. DON’T DO IT. For once I listened to the “live dangerously” side of me. Here I’ll share my tie-dyeing journey with you; I made a few mistakes, but ultimately loved how the experience turned out.
The weather turned out beautiful that night — perfect tie-dyeing weather. Tie-dye rule #1, you will want to do this outside. Because of the amount of dye each packet creates, I recommend making this a group event, tie-dye rule #2. I wouldn’t have done this to make just one or two T-shirts. So, invite a small group to participate. It’s a lot more fun this way, and the materials will get used up. You won’t want to save leftover dye.
Tie-dye rule #3, ask each invitee to bring a washed and dried (with no softener) white item. I picked an old white T-shirt for my husband (you know the one with the pit stains in the bottom of the drawer), a T-shirt for my son, athletic socks for me (which didn’t absorb the color as well as the thin T-shirts) and a tiny onesie for a gift. My other family members brought T-shirts to dye.
I chose to buy Tulip-brand dye that comes in a squeeze bottle, tie-dye rule #4. The squeeze bottle makes this process as neat as humanly possible and helps you concentrate the dye on a targeted area. This dye precision is something you can’t achieve with the old-school method using buckets of dye. Craft stores in our area sell these kits or additional colors without all the other items you will need in the kit. So, for our 11 projects, I spent roughly $40 on supplies.
I bought one full kit of five colors (with an additional dose of dye for each color), rubber gloves and bands and three additional bottles of color in different shades not in the kit (I had to have pink). I also bought extra rubber gloves and bands and clothes pins. I have three packets of dye powder, rubber gloves and bands, clothes pins and cleaned squeeze bottles left. The next time we do this, I will be all set and not have much cost involved at all.
We’ve got our supplies ready! It’s time to rubber band our projects, tie-dye rule #5. The kit comes with different patterns to create with the dye. There’s the bullseye, swirl, ombre, crumple, etc. All the patterns are easy to achieve just by the way you fold and band your fabric. We were NOT experts and we were still able to recreate the patterns easily and quickly.
The squeeze bottles come with a pre-measured amount of powdered dye in the bottom. You just fill with water to the line and shake, tie-dye rule #6. If you need to dive into an extra packet, do not use your teeth. I was spitting orange for an hour after opening.
We all put on rubber gloves and set out for an uninhabited area of our yard. Everyone put their projects on the ground and armed themselves with the color of their choice. When you are squeezing dye on your banded projects, concentrate on the area in between the bands. Avoid the area by the bands as the colors will spread and bleed, tie-dye rule #7. You want to saturate and let the color soak through to the middle of the fabric, but you don’t want the colors to blend together. They will get muddy looking and turn poo brown if the right colors mix.
Once you’ve colored one side, flip your project and repeat, tie-dye rule #8.
While the adults and a 10-year-old were fully engrossed in this project, the two toddlers were running around and fighting over toys.
Toddlers squabbling: “Mine! No, mine!”
Adults look up and in unison yell: “Share!” Adults all look down again and return to tie dyeing.
So, this project is really best and most engaging for school-age kids and older, tie-dye rule #9.
After you’ve dyed your project, wrap piece in plastic wrap and hang on a clothesline overnight, tie-dye rule #10. I hung twine in between our fence posts for the duration of the project.
The next morning I unwrapped each piece and rinsed them individually to remove excess dye, tie-dye rule #11. Do this in a metal sink that won’t stain. Once the water runs clear during rinsing, you can remove bands with scissors. I nicked a hole in a project so be careful here. After this I rinsed again. Then I threw the projects into the largest wash load on the hottest cycle with a glug of detergent, tie-dye rule #12. Dry normally. For the next few washes or so, be aware of what you are washing the dyed items with. They will likely bleed a bit still, tie-dye rule #13.
Even though I’m not the tie dye wearing type, I always wanted to try the process. It was an entertaining project to do while it’s nice outside. When I saw the different colors and patterns revealed from each family member on their T-shirts, I was thrilled with the results. It was great to see the unique and colorful designs each person created.
Maybe next summer my son will even get in on the action!
Emily Harrington is a Chambana townie that left her 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job to be a 24/7 mom to a dreamy son. Still interested in writing, Emily uses some of naptime to practice her passion and keep her mind right. Emily is a happy wife with a happy life because she fell for a fellow townie. Oh, and let’s not forget her other son, a degenerate canine named Heppenheimer.