Modern Day Tie-Dye

Modern Day Tie-Dye

Tie-dye is a process of folding fabric into a pattern, binding it with rubber bands or string, then dyeing it with vibrant colors. When it comes dyeing items, there are many options. Try scarves, socks, shirts or slipcovers made of cellulose materials such as cotton, linen, hemp or even silk!

MATERIALS

Newspaper or garbage bags

White or lightly-colored fabric garment or accessory, pre-washed and dried

Rubber bands

Rubber gloves

Large mixing bowl

Soda ash*

Fiber-reactive dye, in one or various colors**

Squirt bottles, one for each color of dye

*Tip: Also known as sodium bicarbonate, it helps the dye adhere to the fabric. Find it at your local hardware store in the pool supplies section.

**Tip: Purchase fiber-reactive dyes at your local craft store or online.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Line an outdoor work area or large table with newspaper or garbage bags.
2. Decide on a tying technique (see below for ideas), and use rubber bands to hold your design in place.
3. Wearing gloves, mix one cup of soda ash per gallon of warm water in a mixing bowl, and soak fabric in the mixture for 15 minutes. After soaking, ring water out until it’s damp but not dripping.
4. Mix dyes according to package directions in the squirt bottles, then squeeze colors onto the fabric thoroughly, either randomly or in colorful patterns on all sides, making sure to squeeze dye in the creases and folds, too. 
5. Put the fabric in a plastic bag to keep it moist, and let it sit for 8-24 hours.
6. Keeping the rubber bands on, rinse under cold water to stop the dye reaction, then switch to warm water. Remove rubber bands and continue rinsing until water runs clear.
7. Wash immediately in the washing machine in a hot water cycle with your preferred detergent.

Tip: Wash your dyed items by themselves a few times to prevent dye from bleeding onto other fabrics.

3 Tying Techniques

Part of tie-dye’s charm is that no matter how you tie, fold or crumple an item, you’ll never get the same design. Try one of these techniques, or experiment with your own:

1. Stripes: Gather the item into a tube shape and space rubber bands evenly down the length of the tube. The more rubber bands, the more stripes.*
2. Spiral: Lay the item flat, pinch a section of fabric and twist in a clockwise direction until the entire item is spiraled (like a cinnamon bun), then bind with 6-8 rubber bands in a crisscross pattern to hold the item together.
3. Circles: Lay the item out on a flat surface, then pinch and pull up on a section to make a tepee-like point. Tie it off with one or more rubber bands, depending on how many circles you want to create.

*Coloring Tip: Get an ombre effect by progressively getting lighter with the dye as you move along the fabric sections. Adding a little water to the dye as you go will make it lighter.