Tie Dying is easier than I thought with tulip one step dye! How to make a spiral pattern by isewcute!

I tried to make some tie dye shirts years ago...but it was a total flop. The dye wasn't bright & my technique was non-existant. I thought I'd never do it again....ever....until I recently followed a link on twitter from ilovetocreate about how to tie dye shirts using tulip one step dyes. If it wasn't for the video...I'd never have tried tie dying again...the memories were too painful and I & doing a quick search on youtube ...showing various patterns you can create!

This is my first attempt 'again' at tie dying...and if you'd like to try, I'll show you 3 patterns in the next 3 blog posts...so here's what you need to get started:

*a tulip tie dye kit...comes with rubberbands, a 'how to' booklet, & plastic gloves ( I recommend the yellow, turquoise, & fuschia colors...because they gave me the brightest results rather than blue or red...which looked dull by comparison)

*tulip 'soda ash'...you soak your items in this powder/water mix to help the dye bond better with the fabric

*a bucket for soaking the shirts in...I used a recycled kitty litter container (yay for recycling!)

*a big spoon for stirring soda ash & water

*rubber gloves...I know some come in the kit...but mine fell apart...so I got some latex 'cosmetic gloves'

*plastic tablecloth or sheet of plastic to protect your work area...I taped the corners down to keep it from blowing outside

*paper towels or rag for clean up

*plastic bags
*a big fork...for one of the techniques

*a pencil for the other 2 techniques

I chose to work outside...I'm too messy to attempt this indoors...and the bonus was I could just hose off the table in between items...then wipe with a paper towel to have a nice clean work surface for the next shirt!

Soak your shirt in a mixture of soda ash...following package directions...I used the tulip brand...mixed a gallon & let them soak for about 20 min. Wring out shirt & then spread it out on your work area...smoothing out all the wrinkles.

Grab your big fork & place it where you want the 'center' of your spiral to be located...

...then you start to twist the fork as if your twisting spaghetti! :o) So fun!

Once you have your spiral...take a rubberband & pull it over your spiral...dividing it into 2 equal halves...then add another one perpindicular to it to make a 'cross' ...then add 2 more rubberbands in between...divinding your spiral into pie shapes. Doesn't have to look 'perfect'...see?

Now you can add your color! Fill in between the rubberbands if you don't want the colors to blend too much...or bleed one color into the next as you go...and the various colors will mix right before your eyes! Remember...yellow & turquoise will make green...turquoise & fuschia will make purple...fuschia & yellow make orange... it's up to you what colors you'd like next to each other. I like them all personally! :o)

When you have side one colored...flip it over & do the same on the other side!

Next pop your shirt into a plastic bag & let it sit for a few hours to let the dye really soak in for the brightest results! (I left mine overnight...because I got a late start on this)

After dye is set...rinse out your shirt until the water runs clear & remove the rubber bands. Finally wash your shirt with a little mild detergent, dry, & wear with pride that you did it yourself!

*Next blog post...how to tie dye a heart pattern!

:o)