First Tie-Dye Adventures - The Reveal

My follower, fellow tweep and real-life friend has been all about tie-dye lately. Purely by coincidence, but my rowing team has also discussed tie-dying our team shirts now for several weeks.

Well, I'd rather do than discuss, so I joined Alliebagel for a tie-dye session last week. Not bad for a first-timer, if I do say so myself.

In my past, I've used RIT dye (comes in a box you can buy at Wal-Mart or Zellars) in a pot of hot water on the stove. I have used this dye to colour Halloween costumes accessories in the past and it's very cheap and easy to use.

When tie-dying, this will dye your entire shirt, leaving the 'tied' parts white. It also stains VERY easily, so you will want to cover every surface and use a stainless steel pot and old spoons, for the same reason.

This time around, we used bottles of dye, which you can buy in tie-dye kits at Wal-Mart or Michael's. Overall, the experience was more fun. I had more control over the dye and a greater variety of colour with which to work. Following the directions in the kit, we wrapped our creations (some of which looked like giant donuts) in saran wrap to 'cure' overnight. A quick rinse in the morning, until the water ran clear, then washed in hot water and my inaugural tie-dye masterpieces are complete!!

Here's another closeup of the starburst (this is what the 'donut' shirt turned out like), and me sporting my oh-so-cool shirt!