Tie Dye Madness

I have been out of town for a while & now I am back!  On my trip to visit my family we discovered a new craft!  Tie Dye!  I must WARN you.... Tie Dye is extremely addicting so read the rest of this post at your own risk :)  Here's how it's done:

FIRST: Scour every Wal Mart, Target, Discount store for white shirts, white shorts, white dresses, white skirts, white fabric....you get the picture!

 SECOND:  Wash and dry all the white clothing.

 My sis with a large basket of clothes

THIRD:  Soak the white clothes in Soda Ash - just follow the directions on the box.  (I think this step is optional - but we opted to use it)

 FOURTH:  Wring out the Soda Ash and let the clothes dry until just damp - you don't want them dripping wet

FIFTH:  Now the fun part begins!  Time to swirl, twirl, fold, and scrunch....oh and tie!  We looked up ideas and pictures on the internet for patterns.  You kinda just go for it & hope for the best.  That is where the addiction comes in - there are so many possibilities & they are so fun to do!

 We like to alternate swimming and tying!  Above is my sis-in-law Megan & brother.

SIXTH:  Mix the dye according to the directions - we used the Tulip brand they sell at Wal Mart & Michaels.  You have to work fast on the next part because the dye is only active for up to 45 minutes!  We had about 35 shirts to do - yikes!

 I guess we did too much swimming because it got dark & we ended up dying all the shirts in the dark with flashlights!  I don't recommend this :)  You have to have a clean surface for each side of the shirt - so we had to hose off the area to keep it dye free.  It was a little crazy.

SEVENTH:  Dye the shirts.  You are supposed to put the light colors on first, then add darker colors.  There are lots of fun pictures & videos on the internet showing different ways to color them.  After a while we were just squirting dye at random!

After you dye the shirts, tie them up in a plastic bag and let them sit for at least 24 hours - longer is better.   Then the fun part begins - it's like Christmas!  Unwrap each shirt and behold your creations!!

 Megan's SF Giants shirt

 Tie Dyed fabric

 Megan's scallop

 Melinda's single swirl

 My triple swirl

 Ella's Heart

 Mallory's striped shorts

 Logan's spiral

Final Note:  After you unwrap your shirts hang them up to dry completely.  Ours were still pretty wet & drippy.  Once dry, rinse them in the washer (no soap) and dry.  I am careful to wash tie-dye together just in case it runs or bleeds in the wash.