Tie-Dyeing

Tie-Dyeing

You will need:

Light coloured pillowcase, t-shirt etc (must be at least 75% cotton)

Elastic bands

Derivan Screen Printing Ink in various colours

1 teaspoon of salt per dye bath.

Cold water

Mixing bowls large enough to submerge your pillowcase

Mixing spoon

Measuring jug

Rubber gloves

Waterproof table covering

Method:

1. Cover your workspace with plastic covering, as the dyes will stain permanently.


2. Measure about ¼ of the jar of each of the inks into separate mixing bowls. Add the salt and stir really well. After a minute or two the ink will become quite runny.  

Add equal amounts of cold water and stir. This will be used for your dye baths.

Experiment a little amount of water you add to the dye baths. The more water, the softer the colours will be.

You can do a little colour mixing at this stage. Red+ yellow will give you orange. Blue + red will give you purple. Yellow + blue will give you green etc

3. Wet and thoroughly wring out your pillowcase. Working from the middle outwards, twist small sections of the fabric and SECURELY tie with the elastic bands.

The area twisted and covered by the elastic band won’t absorb colour, which gives us the interesting spiral patterns. Check out the different methods you can experiment with, at the bottom of the page.

4. Put on your rubber gloves, and start dipping your pillowcase into the bowls of dye. Start with the lighter colours first and work your way to the darker ones.

It is a good idea to only pick a couple of colours, and try and keep the colours from overlapping too much. This will keep your designs nice and fresh.

Don’t forget what you know about colour mixing. Red, blue and yellow together will give you a muddy brown, as will red and green. So think about the effects you would like to achieve and don’t be tempted to have a dip in every bowl!

5. When you are satisfied with your design, leave it to sit in a separate bowl or sink for 

about 30 minutes. This helps the dyes to penetrate the fibers of the fabric, and will give you a brighter design.

6. Rinse your pillowcase thoroughly with cold running water, until the water runs clear.

7. Remove the elastic bands and your design will be revealed. Hang your pillowcase out to dry in a warm shady spot.

8. When dry, iron with a hot iron for at least 3 minutes to finally set the dyes.