Did a fun custom tie dye order for two toddler tees and a v-neck ladies style t-shirt which turned out super cute & yummy!
When doing customs I usually do two of each item to make sure one of them works out. A valuable lesson learned from many years of failed custom orders lol. This way I can always list the extras in my Etsy shop.
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| Find the center & draw out the design |
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| Sometimes I mess up on the centering lol |
Important steps in hand tying shape designs on a tee shirt is first, always make sure you center the design in the middle of the tee and get in at the right height as well.
You may need to try it on or hold it up to your body to make sure it looks right. Too far up or too far down and it will look a wee bit funny.
Be Creative!
Think of placing the shape in an unusual way like on the bottom sideways or on the back of the top. Go crazy.
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| Hand tied with sinew and tiny rubber bands |
After you've decided where the shape will go fold the FRONT only of the t-shirt in half where the design was drawn. If your a good artist you can fold the tee then draw out half of the ice cream design.
FOLDING & TYING:
Start at the cherry on top, tie it up pleating on the line and tie it with sinew or tiny hair rubber bands.
Then tie the ice cream part.
I use one long string of artificial sinew for Moon Dyes shape designs. Love the white line it produces and I have less worrying about bleeding of my colors. Rubber bands can be used tight on each part as well. I crinkle the ice cream area so I can dye it a light color and then a darker on top for a psychedelic look.
Then you tie up the cone area in a pleat fashion. To keep it together I wrap the tiny hair bands on it. Dye light brown with a little dark brown on top to give it a waffle cone look!
Stripes were tied around the tie dye ice cream cone design all through out the tee to finish the tying part up.
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| A sneak peak into the tie dye Moon Lab |
DYING:
Procion fiber reactive dyes are hand mixed fresh for all projects.
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| Rainbow colors of awesomeness! |
Droppers are used for each color to apply dye in small tricky areas of the shape designs. It takes patience and a steady hand!
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| Tie dye artist secret, shhhhh! |
After I've hand dropped the ice cream shape part I use the bottles of dye to dye up the rest of the tee. Then I store it in a plastic tote with a lid for 12-24 hours in a warm are to let the dye bond with the fabric to make it colorfast. You can also use a plastic grocery bag if you have no totes.
WASH OUT DAY:
Rinse out excess dye in COLD water until water runs fairly clear. Untie or unwrap your item and rinse in cold again. Then throw it in a hot wash cycle with a squirt of blue dawn dish liquid or synthrapol detergent. Wash 2-3 times more depending on how dark of colors you've dyed with and how big of a load done.
Tumble dry low and wear!
To keep dyes bright & vibrant wash in COLD water with like colors.
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| "POP" |
Good Vibes & Bright Dyes
