Tie Dye

My camera battery needed charging so I didn't get any pictures of our process, (just the final product) but as a fun homeschool project we recently did a single color tie-dye. I also learned that there are a lot of people out there who have never experimented with coloring fabric on their own.

My son picked the color - purple, lavender and pink are currently his favorites so we went for purple. We picked a onesie for his sibling we will meet this summer, and a shirt for him so we could make them matching shirts. Of course, with tie-dye, there is no such thing as tie dye.

1. To make a circular, almost web pattern, I took the center of the t-shirt, poked my finger through so there was a bit of fabric to twist, then wrapped a rubber band around that area. I did the same thing to the onesie.
2. Anywhere we want the white of the shirt to show is where we added rubber bands. This is a great exercise for finger dexterity and prepping for other fine motor skills.
3. Continue wrapping rubber bands around the shirts until you get a "tube" of shirt - keeping in mind that all the white areas you see will be colored with the dye.
4. We used Rit dye and the washing machine method.
5. Submerse all the material to be dyed in very hot water so it is completely wet.
6. We took a packet of dye, added it to the machine, then added all the clothing to be colored to the machine and let it sit for the recommended 30 minutes for more vibrant colors.
7. Once the color process is complete, you can then either hang the clothing to dry or put it in the dryer.