non-sew tye dye??

[courtneylauren]

Does anyone have a way to make the Mickey tye dye spiral shirts without sewing?? If anyone has instructions and pictures, please post! Thanks!

 

[stormer]

I am not a sewer (is that a word?) so this is what I did. I soaked my shirts in soda ash. Then I layed the shirt flat and used a paint brush to paint the Mickey head on with the dye - it will run a lot so make it smaller than you want to allow for this. I put a paper plate with some paper towels on it in between the layers of the shirt to absorb the extra dye and prevent it from getting on the back. After the Mickey head was done I pulled it up and wrapped it in plastic just like the directions for the kind you sew. I then tye dyed as usual. They didn't come perfect, but they were fine for me.

 

[MusicMouse]

Another idea I've been toying with (I don't sew well, either) is doing the spiral without sewing the Mickey head, and then going back and outlining a Mickey head on the shirt with a bleach pen. I think it would work. I love the tie dye, I'm just not certain of my sewing skills!

 

[courtneylauren]

thanks

 

[GoofyWalker]

Another idea I've been toying with (I don't sew well, either) is doing the spiral without sewing the Mickey head, and then going back and outlining a Mickey head on the shirt with a bleach pen. I think it would work. I love the tie dye, I'm just not certain of my sewing skills!

First of all, the sewing part is not really hard, just a bit time consuming. It is just going over and under in a fairly large stitch. Anyone can do it. Kids do it on craft kits from the craft store, where they sew through pre-made holes around a felt shape with yarn. It does not matter if your stitches are bigger or smaller than someone elses. It also does not matter if all your stitches are the same size or not. You just need them big enough so it is easy to pull the ends and gather the fabric. I've never tried it, but you might also be able to sew a large basting stitch around the MH with a sewing machine. Might be a little harder to pull the threads to gather, since on a sewing machine there are two threads.

However, there are examples on the tie dye Mickey Head thread where some people have not sewed. Sorry, I don't know the exact posts, you'd have to search for them.

Others have tie dyed with a solid color circle in the middle, then used the bleach pen afterwards to draw on the Mickey Head.

At least one other person just gathered 3 circles with rubber bands (with a big circle and two smaller circles "touching" in Mickey Ear position). If attempting this, I would definitely still draw the Mickey Head on the shirt (with disappearing fabric pencil or marker) so it is the size and position I'd want, and both ears end up the same size, then put the rubber bands on, making sure you can just see the drawn line evenly next to the rubber bands. That way, you'll have a nice circle, instead of a lop-sided one!!

Hope this helps!!

GoofyWalker