Tutorial Tuesday: Striped Tie-dye Tank

Here's a basic tutorial on how to make a stripped tee or tank using dye.

                                      From this...                                To this!

Materials:
Dye (Tulip or Rit; I used Rit)
Rubber bands for guides
Rubber gloves
A white tee or tank (I used a ribbed tank)
Boiling water
A disposable basin (or one you don't mind ruining from the dye)
A dark plastic or metal spoon to stir dye

First, boil the water. While you wait for that place rubber bands around sections of your shirt. You can do small stripes or large stripes; I chose to do two large stripes.

Once the water is boiled, pour the correct amount into the basin according to package directions.

Measure & add dye. Mix.

Place first "stripe" of the shirt in the dye using the rubber bands as guides. The shirt will act like a paper towel and absorb the dye past the rubber band. I think this looks awesome with different gradients of color. And don't worry if you get a few splashes of dye on your shirt, it's original and handmade! If you want very small stripes, applying dye to the shirt using a syringe or squirt bottle works very well. My stripes were very thick, so I dunked. Repeat for the next section & leave in dye as long as package directs. I did about 10 minutes per stripe.

Very carefully rinse each stripe in the sink until water runs clear.

Chelsea dyed hers with a squirt bottle and did thin stripes, also a great look.

Let dry before washing in the washing machine. During dye-day we were pressed for time & made the mistake of putting all our shirts together in the washer while wet so much of the dye bled. If you're using dark colors (blue, green, purple, brown, black) wash on a cold cycle!

Tank top: $3 for 3 (ie $1 for 1)
Dye: $1.66
Total: $2.66 with dye left over