joshua4 said:
I just love the shirt you made -- but did you really follow the directions on Mouseforless. I noticed that your shirt did not have a ring pattern, instead more of a swirl pattern which I love.
Lauren: Thanks! I did followed the MouseForLess directions
and the directions for general tie-die in the tie-die package I bought and on the Internet.
I know how to make a swirl tie dye pattern, but I can't figure out how you got the Mickey in the middle? Did you use the squirt bottle dye to do this? How did you prevent the dye from staying within the Mickey head outline? Did you really let the dyed shirts sit for 24 hours before unravelling?
I traced the Mickey Pattern on the shirt with a pencil. I printed out a Mickey head in small and large and used that. I sewed around the Mickey with Dental Floss (through both sides of the shirt) and pulled it tight as I went. There is probably a better thread to use, but that's what I had that was strong enough to pull and make tight. Once you have the Mickey sewed, you gather the Mickey up in a little pouch, pushing the back of the shirt in toward the front and secure a rubber band tightly around the base of the Mickey. I then twisted, wrapped and rubber banded the rest of the shirt. Some I made in the swirl pattern and some I made in the bulls eye pattern.
I used a squirt bottle of red dye and started with Mickey. The combination of the tight sewing and the rubber band keeps the red dye in the Mickey and off the rest of the shirt. I then used blue and yellow on my other rubber banded sections, sticking the nossel of the bottle into the folds get enough dye on the shirt. I did allow the t-shirts to sit for 24 hours or more.
I worked on a card table covered with plastic. I also used many disposable rubber gloves and wore old clothes. Be careful when handling the just dyed t-shirts. Any drops on the plastic or dye, from your hands or from another shirt will rub off on them. I wrapped the t-shirts in garbage bags to keep them moist and separate. Make sure you follow the directions for prepping the shirts. You need to wash them in something (I don't remember what, but any tie-die place will have the chemical) so the dye sticks better.
I spoke to a woman in December who made her crew a bunch of t-shirts and she said she used small plates to trace the Mickey heads. Her Mickeys were much bigger than mine and I think they looked better bigger. Secondly, she said that she dyed the Mickey head first, making sure that she squirted dye on into the pouch from the inside first and then the outside so the Mickey showed on both sides of the shirt when done. Then, she wrapped a sandwich bag around the Mickey to keep the red off the rest of the shirt and then wrapped and tied the rest.
Also, any idea where to fine 100 percent cotton t shirts- michaels and
walmart seem to only stock 50/50.
I know that some of our local craft stores also carry 100% cotton. Let your fingers do the walking

. It really makes a difference.
Good luck and have fun! Take a picture for us

.