It’s hard to find projects that your teens will like. Everybody knows how picky teens are and how difficult it is to please them! However, even if you have the pickiest teenager, chances are that he or she will love to create his or her own tie dye projects. Teens love to create their own crafts and their own clothes, and by making their own tie dye, they can really personalize their clothing and create something that they know that they will like. Tie dye projects are the perfect way to satisfy your picky teen and to get him or her using those creative juices!
Tie dye projects for teens
1. Choose your item of clothing or other item: you can choose an article of clothing like a t-shirt or a dress, or you can make sheets, pillowcases, and curtains. You can tie dye bags or other items. Just make sure that whatever you choose is cotton and not polyester. Polyester will not accept the dye like cotton will.
2. The overall gist of creating a tie dye project is that you will gather, fold, and then tie your item with either string or rubber bands, and then soaked in fabric dye. Of course, the steps are more complicated, but the steps depend on what kind of dye you use and what design you use.
Materials needed
• The item to be dyed (at least 60% cotton).
• Various colors of dye.
•Rubber gloves.
• Plastic bag.
• Rubber bands or string.
• Dye, such as RIT brand dye
• Large pot or bucket
• Either squirt bottles or spray bottles.
• Long handled utensil.
• Salt (used with RIt dye to make the darker colors more brilliant)
• Newspapers and/or plastic garbage bag to protect your work area
• Rags for a cleanup.
3. Pre-wash your fabric. Many manufacturers put a finish on your fabric which will block the dye from fully working itself into the fabric.
4. Decide what kind of design you want to have on your tie dye material. The design that you want will determine how you are going to fold up and tie your fabric. Here are different ways for you to fold your fabric based on what type of design you would like:
• If you want horizontal stripes, fold up your piece of clothing into vertical pleats.
• If you want vertical stripes, then you should fold your fabric into horizontal pleats.
• Diagonal pleats are another way to go for cool-looking tie dye projects.
4. Another tie-dye project is to stitch a loose basting stitch in any shape, and then pull the threads nice and tight.
5. Want concentric circles? Take the cloth where you want the center of your design to be and then pull until you have a long tube of fabric. Then put rubber bands around the fabric at different intervals.
6. The “scrunch” pattern also looks really good. Crumple your fabric evenly so that it makes a flat disc when you put rubber bands around it.
7. For the ever-popular spiral-pattern tie dye, lay the fabric on a flat surface. Smooth out all of the wrinkles, and then make a pleat right in wherever you want the center of the spiral. Use a clothes pin to hold that pleat. Then begin to twist the fabric; if the pleats are starting to get too big, then you just split them with your hands. Keep each pleat about the same height.
5. Cover your work area so that it won’t be stained by the dye.
6. Prepare the dye according to the manufacturer’s directions and what is written on the package.
7. Make sure that you wear rubber gloves at all times to protect your skin from the dangerous chemicals in the dyes.
8. Some dyes will require you to soak your item in soda ash, while some will require that you dip your item in hot water.
9. Start dyeing your item. If you are going to use more than one color, start with the lightest color. The dye manufacturer will tell you whether or not you should rinse between color applications or wait between applications. Rinse immediately if required by the directions, or let your item sit for as long as is necessary (in some cases, it’s up to 24 hours).
10. Dry your item as directed by the dye instructions.
11. Immediately clean out the buckets used so that they won’t be stained.
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