Tie Dye Tee
Ok, first things first… Don’t Panic! This might look complicated, but it’s really easy, and the results are always amazing!
What’s going to happen? Well, you’re going to tie up the t-shirt in interesting ways… then put it in a bucket of bleach for about 30 minutes. The parts of the cloth that are exposed to the bleach will change colour and become a light brown. The parts that are hidden below the twine will stay dark and black.
You Will Need:
One Black or Coloured T-Shirt (This method does NOT work on white t-shirts)
Eight to Ten Chickpea seeds (or Channa seeds)
A roll of twine, or any thick thread
A ruler (plastic or metal, doesn’t really matter)
Half a bucket of water and a bottle of Robin Fabric Whitener (Or any Fabric Bleach)
Plastic or rubber gloves
Sleeve Step 1: Put a Chickpea seed under the middle of the sleeve and tie twine around it. Wind the twine a few times before you tie it.
Sleeve Step 2: Put another seed under the first one, and tie. Repeat this process, tying 4 chickpeas on each sleeve as shown.
Body Step 1: Lay the t-shirt flat, and hold the ruler vertically on top of it… Press the ruler down and twist.
Keep twisting until the material of the t-shirt is wrapped around the ruler.
Then tie the body of the t-shirt around the ruler. Don’t remove the ruler.
After you’re done tying, the t-shirt should look something like this.
In half a bucket of water, add 10 capfuls of Robin Fabric Whitener (for other bleaches, use double the recommended quantity). Completely immerse the t-shirt in the water… You might need to weigh it down with a large glass paperweight, or a rock. P.S. Please use gloves while doing this… we didn’t, and this stuff burns!!!
Leave for 30 minutes. Take it out and see if the colour has changed. If not, leave for another 15 minutes. Do NOT leave the t-shirt in the bleach for more than 45 minutes… The effect might look really dark, but it will become lighter when the material dries.
Wear Gloves, carefully untie the twine and rinse THOROUGHLY in cold water. Hang dry in the shade. And TADA! Your “No-Dye Tie-Dye” t-shirt is ready!
Many Thanks to Elita for sending us this fab idea!
