Tie Dyeing; a creative way to spend a day.

Last summer I thought it would be fun to tie dye shirts.  I hadn't done it since high school, but for some reason thought it would be fun.  I suggested it to the other moms and they all agreed. So, last August (or maybe it was September) we gathered at my house to tie dye. 

It was a busy, loud, windy, hot day here in Ohio.  So, not exactly conducive for tie dyeing, but we did it anyway.  We had about 10-12 moms and tons of kids show up.  We had lots of dye and didn't run out until almost the end.  Due to the wind and lack of space some shirts ended up different colors than intended and some didn't soak up enough dye because they dried out.  All in all though everyone had fun.

Fast forward to this year.  In May we had our monthly meeting and planned our June calendar. Again, tie dyeing was brought it.  The weather is finally nicer and we can get outside to do things so it came up.  We planned for a date in June to tie dye.  Again, I offered my home, but this year I had stipulations.  Due to the chaos last year I decided that we should have no more than 10-12 warm bodies at a time.  All agreed. 

Yesterday was the day to tie dye.  At 9:30a I began setting up tables.  This year I decided that the garage would be a better venue so we could stay out of the sun and/or rain.  So, three tables were set up and covered with plastic garbage bags.  By this time other moms had arrived so they were helping set up.  Since the dye is most potent in the first 45 min it seemed smart to fold all of the items to be dyed and then start dyeing.  This is what we did.  It was kind of an assembly line.  We all helped each other out.  There is no wrong way to tie dye, but there are some really neat folds.  Check out this site: Folding techniques

Once all of the items were folded, twisted, and banded I went to mix dye.  Mixing the dye actually sounds more daunting than it is.  All you do is dump the baggie of dye into the plastic bottle, add water to the fill line, screw on the top, and shake.  Very easy.  So, out to the garage to dye. 

Each person chose their first item.  The item was placed on top of a plastic grocery bag.  Then the dyeing began.  I started with mine as an example and as I was talking about the color wheel I messed up!  I am not sure how it will turn out.  I wanted a spiral with yellow, lime, and turquoise, but I messed up the placement of the colors (i.e. the lime wedges aren't across from each other). After the demo the others began to dye.

Monkey was set on a camo shirt.  I bought him a cotton thermal tee from Dharma Trading Company.  We crumpled his and put it on the bag.  He squirted brown, green, and black all over the tee.  Once finished we flipped the plastic bag over the tee and put it into the garage to steep (maybe cure is a better word) for 24 hrs. 

Everyone else did the same.  We did spiral shirts, bulls eye shirts, bandannas, socks, headbands, and more.  So far so good.  No real mess and everyone is getting a chance to dye.  The first session ended around 11:45.  The next session was scheduled to begin at noon.  They were all late.

It is now 1 o'clock.  Everyone is here.  One mom had a dead car battery and had to wait for her husband to come jump her car, but now we are all here.  Since the morning went well with folding first and then dyeing that is what we proceeded to do.  This time we ran out of rubber bands and had to use acrylic yarn instead. Once folding was complete I mixed dye. 

This time we ran out of dye.  I used a different, smaller kit (meaning fewer colors) because it was cheaper.  We ran out of red and blue.  I felt awful!!  I wanted everyone to have the colors they had chosen and a couple had to do without.  Everyone made do and I think they were happy with the items.

Around 2:30 I decided I needed to eat.  All I had eaten was a bowl of cereal and a banana at 8:30.   I was hungry.  So, the adults took a break and the kids played outside.  While inside we noticed that the box of dye had more rubber bands.  Doh!!  Never even thought to look in that box.  I thought I had brought out all of the rubber bands.

A little bit later another mom came with shirts to dye. She used the excess dye and her boys didn't care about the colors.  At 3:15 or so all dyeing was complete.  Everyone had dyed everything they had wanted to dye.  We still had pink, purple, and a little green left.  I hated to see it go to waste so I called another mom in our group who lives down the street. She came up and her daughter used the last bits of the dye (pink and purple are her favorite colors so it worked out well).

All the dye is gone.  All of the shirts are packed up.  Now it is time to clean up.  That didn't take long.  Clean up is easy for tie dyeing.  You just trash all the used gloves, plastic coverings, and paper towels.  The dye bottles just have to be rinsed.  All was clean in about 10 min. 

Did we have fun?  Yes.  Would we do it again?  Yes. There has already been talk about doing it next summer.  Plus, the kids really enjoy wearing shirts they've made.  Once I untie and wash the shirts I'll post some pictures.  I am hoping they turn out well, but as one mom said there is no wrong way to tie dye. They are in the wash now.  Total cost was about $6 each for the dye plus the cost of shirts.  So, all in all it isn't an overly expensive activity.

Tips for tie dyeing:
1. Have a smaller group (8-12)
2. Do it outside
3. Wear clothing you don't ever want to wear again
4. Make sure you have enough dye (we use the Tulip kits from Michael's)
5. Cover your workspace
6. Wear gloves unless you want tie dyed hands
7. Use only cotton or natural fabrics
8. Let items cure for 24 hrs for brighter colors
9. Have other activities or a play structure for the kids when they aren't dyeing
10.  Have fun!!