Tie dye your t-shirt? That's how you do it!

“Maaaam, can I tie-dyen?” Uhhh, well, do I have to? It is the trend of the moment. Make your own t-shirt using that technique. I remember it from back in the day, I thought it was fantastic myself. Nowadays the techniques for tie dyeing are a bit different and when I ask Lotte how she wants to do that, she shouts:'Oh, I'll look up tshirt tie on Youtube'. All right, chick, you do that 😉 . Do you actually know how to write it? Well I can tell you… it doesn't matter if you use the actual tie dye term or tie that… you are inundated with information!

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Do you let your daughter tie a t-shirt or rather not?

Well, first of all, I held off the boat. Damn, all that mess that is made with it, I didn't feel like it at all. That's also because I used to bathe at home, that tie dye. And I don't think my mother was too happy about that either. But the current techniques can easily be carried out on a garbage bag in the garden! And with this beautiful weather the past few weeks, there was no stopping the challenge to make a tshirt yourself. It had to and would happen.

And afterwards I have to tell you… it's really great to see how they independently dye their own tshirt and socks with the tie die technique. So… if you're open to it, I'd just allow it. They grow in self-confidence, are super proud when their t-shirt is ready and can actually dye it all by themselves. Lotte is 10 years old and didn't really need my help pimping her clothes.

This is how you paint (tie-die) your own tshirt with swirl technique

What do you need to-tie-those-and?

• Some empty soda bottles
• Acrylic paint for example from the Action (those big tubes) or can be found here at Bol.com
• Water
• A clean white tshirt (Lotte got them here)
• A garbage bag
• Rubber bands
• A fork

This is how you can dye your t-shirt yourself

First of all, you start by making the different colors that you will use to paint the tshirt. In this case Lotte had used quite a few different colors (yellow, green, pink, red, blue and green) for a kind of rainbow effect with the swirl technique.

• Take an empty PET bottle and make a hole in the cap with the scissors
• Put a layer of water in the bottle and then add one color of paint (if you want dark, intensive tie colors on your t-shirt, you use less water, for lighter colors you use more water)
• Fill all bottles with your own color of paint (or make a mixture), use each bottle separately
• Put a garbage bag outside on the grass
• Wet your white tshirt under the tap and wring it out a little bit
• Place your white tshirt on the garbage bag

• Take the fork and place it in the middle of your tshirt

• Turn the fork around and roll up your t-shirt into a nice package as you see in the photo

• Put different rubber bands over it (you decide how many, you can give each box that is made with such a rubber band its own color)
• Tie each compartment of the tshirt by turning the bottle upside down and letting the paint run out

• Make sure you give everything a nice color
• Allow at least half an hour to dry

• Remove the rubber bands, unfold your t-shirt and hang it to dry (outside)
• Done!

The proud little faces like themselves dyed their t-shirt or gave their socks a tie

For me, this was the biggest reward of the whole tie that challenge, her radiant face as she unpacked her t-shirt! For a moment I imagined myself back in time, I recognize that feeling all too well. That proud feeling that you have made something to wear yourself is fantastic.

Do you find it exciting to start with a t-shirt? Then you just have them paint a pair of socks with acrylic paint! The preparations are the same. For example, divide the socks into 3 parts with rubber bands (as in the photo below) and then paint in three parts.

Sample movie tshirts tie-die-diy technique

I think the photos speak for themselves a bit, but in the video below you will also find how the technique works. In case you would like to see it live 😉 .

You can also buy complete tie dye packages, but as you can see that is really not necessary. Just buy some cheap acrylic paint and you're all set. Gloves and such are not necessary at all.

Caution :make sure that you wash the t-shirt or other tie items separately to check that the paint no longer gives off, before you put it in the washing machine together with other clothing.