DIY: Tie Dye Goodness (The Finale)
As you all saw about a week ago, I thrifted a bunch of white clothes and two tie dye kits. And this week, I went to town, despite us all being in the middle of winter and most of the days here in Richmond are grey and cold. Actually, scratch “despite” and change that to “because” (and… er… fix the grammar) because tie dye always cheers me up with its fun, bright colors.
I was totally unprepared for how challenging it would be to take pictures while I did the whole tie dye process, so I’m afraid I don’t have many to share.
The good news is, there are all kinds of amazing resources online to help you if you’re new to tie dying.
I followed the directions in the kit on mixing the soda ash with water in a bucket (FYI the solidified soda ash totally dissolved and worked!) and then did two different tying methods: spiral and a mix of crumple and sunburst. Tulip has an amazing website to help you walk through the process of all the different methods, if you need it.
I let them sit overnight in aluminum pans (I bought the ones with plastic tops to keep them safe and clean) and then rinsed them out in the kitchen sink. Because it’s the winter, I wasn’t able to do them outside and PROTIP: if you can, tie dye outside because THAT ISH IS MESSY and WILL STAIN EVERYTHING. If you’re doing it inside, be super careful, wear gloves (have multiple pairs, if possible), have lots of paper towels on hand, and go SLOWLY.
I thankfully managed to not stain anything except the clothes. I’m so excited how everything turned out!
I’m especially excited about the pants — especially these spiral patterned pants:
As a plus sized gal, it’s hard for me to find cool, tie dyed joggers or pants and even if I could fit into the cute ones I’ve seen around, they’re bananas expensive. (I got the above pants for $2.50, FYI.)
I’m also very happy with this shirt; almost surprised how happy I am:
I generally don’t like the whole “crumple/sunburst” pattern, but this turned out super cool!
So, before you run out to Free People or Madewell and spend a ton of money OR buy from one of those fast fashion sellers, head to your local thrift store, buy some secondhand white clothes (that are 100% cotton or linen, btw), grab and kits, and DIY your own tie dye masterpieces!
