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#DIY How to Tie Dye: Ten Easy Steps

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Before the girls went to camp and I headed off to Blogher’ 13 in Chicago, we had a week of manic hunting for things to do that would keep them busy enough not to kill or eat each other. I mean, we had a fun week of unscheduled activity. AKA crafting. This is one of the fun things we did together. Ainsley actually loved it so much she got all sweet and cuddly and cute. 
Believe me when I say that is worth all the T-shirts in the world. 1000 times over. 
How to Tie Dye:
1. Buy 100 % cotton T-shirts. (not polyester and not ribbed T-shirts or tanks. I tried one and it didn’t take)
2. Buy any old fabric dye. Choose some vibrant colours for best results. 
3. Have several elastics on hand and some rubber gloves too. Plastic bags help for after. Put your gloves on and wear old clothing.
4. Take your T-shirt or other cotton item and twist it into random shapes. If you want a specific pattern like one of these shirts, try to turn it into a flower. So twist and then wagon wheel the elastics so the crumpled T looks like a flower and is divided into five triangle sections at least.
5. Add water to the dye in bottles as instructed on the dye packets.
6. Squirt the dye onto the fabric. Choose different colours for different sections. Don’t forget you can mix some colours and you should flip the clothing item to get both sides. 
7. If you are happy with the saturation, place the coloured item into a plastic bag and let it sit 6-8 hours.
8. Remove the elastics or cut them off.
9. Wash it. (The instructions we used stated wash in hot water. Not sure that’s necessary. But obviously wash with like colours.)
10. Wear it happily and take pictures.

Mom of two beautiful active girls, traveller, fitness junkie, social media consultant, and keeper of the sanity.

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