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4th of July Craft: Tie Dye Tees by Marie LeBaron for Alphamom.com

4th of July Craft: Tie Dye Tees

By Marie LeBaron

Family Tie-Dyed Tees

We’ve got our patriotic outfits ready for the 4th of July, do you? If not, here’s something fun to make for the whole family, Tie Dyed Tees. Special thanks to Jacquard Tie Dye products and Hanes.com for sponsoring some of the supplies.



Family wearing Tie Dye Tees

Supplies for Tie Dye T-Shirts :

* tie dye kit – comes with bottles, dye, solution, rubber bands and gloves
* white clothing
* plastic bucket
* plastic covering
* water
* paper towels

What will you Tie Dye: First, you’ll need to pick out the garments you want to dye. I chose a shirt for my son and husband and 2 twin skirts for my girls.
White tees
And a swimsuit cover for me (although you won’t see me modeling this one, sorry!)
tye dyed swimsuit cover

Basic directions:

The best thing to remember about tie dying is being prepared. Have all your things ready to go before you begin, because you don’t want to get that dye on anything else but what you’re tie dying. The directions from Jacquard are pretty easy to follow from the kit. We did this outside on our patio table, covered in plastic, and held tight by rocks!!
supplies for making tie dye tees

To get your desired look, there’s different ways to fold, twist, and bunch up your clothes.

* For my girl’s skirts, I was going for red stripes like an American flag, so I folded them like an accordion and placed the dye across each fold. I already have tops with stars, so I wanted the bottoms to be the stripes.
* For my cover up, I did blue on top for the “stars” area of a flag and red stripes on the bottom, accordion style like the skirts.
* For my husband’s shirt, we went crazy and just mushed it altogether. I wrapped the bands everywhere to make a big ball.
* And for my son, he really wanted his shirt to be swirly. So I pulled the shirt from the belly and started to twist. Then we wrapped rubber bands around it, about 6 down.
Tie dye tees tutorial
My Son’s Swirl look!
swirl tie dye tee

Applying the dye:
Once you’re ready for the dye, make sure you’re gloves are on so the tips of your fingers don’t go purple! Also, this is DYE and will color anything it touches, so make sure you have paper towels on hand just in case.

Now I applied the dye to all the rubber banded areas. I used only blue and red colors. I applied the blue first, making sure to get in the creases, then rinsed off my gloves to get ready to apply the red. Some spots started to mix and turn purple, but I still think I got my desired look.
tie dying tee with blue paint
Letting it set: When all of your desired dye is applied, cover up the area with another plastic piece. It now needs to set for 24 hours, letting the dye do it’s magic.
covered tees for drying paint
Rinse, wash, and wear: My son could hardly wait the 24 hours that this dye needed to set. Right at 1:00 the next day, he came to me saying it was time! I rinsed each item under water until it rinsed clear. Then popped them into the washer for a good cleaning. We dried them and they were ready to wear!
kids wearing DIY tie dyed tee and dress
Our family is set and ready for the day’s festivities this 4th of July. We’ll be showing off our patriotic colors at the parade, bright and early Saturday morning!

Find More Patriotic Crafts Here:

About the Author

Marie LeBaron

Marie is a crafty mama; you can find her at her daily site Make and Takes.

...

Marie is a crafty mama; you can find her at her daily site Make and Takes.

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