Tie Dye Instructions for Spiral Mickey Shirt

[sandsummers]

I have been reading this entire thread for days and have my shirts ready to go. But now I think I may order dyes from Dharma after reading so many great things on here. Thank you so much to all of you who answer questions and share pics. It is not only an inspiration, but it helps to see how to do things. I do have a couple of questions:

Pixie Dust, the red that you spoke of in the previous post was fuchsia red. I love the way the design looks on your siggie, but does the red look pink at all? It doesn't in the pic, but the word fuchsia is throwing me off. I just don't want my boys to not want to wear a shirt because of them not liking a color.

Anyone have any favorite colors and/or color combinations that the love from Dharma?

Once you finish the basting stitch, do you tie it off? I know you are supposed to pull it tight, but do you actually make a knot?

Tinker, I tried clicking on the link that you had for a picture of your mickey head that you had sewn or maybe your Mickey ears template, but I could not get it to pop-up. Could you post it again? Also, my boys would love the Yoda shirt. I was going to try and make one for them. Would you be able to share your template?

One other question, for those who have used the bleach pen to redefine the Mickey head, do you do it after it has been rinsed and washed in the machine? Also, how long do you let the bleach stay on it? Do you then just wash in the washing machine? Does it get on any of the other colors?

Thank you again to everyone so much! I can't wait to do this project!

Sandi

 

[PixieDust32]

I have been reading this entire thread for days and have my shirts ready to go. But now I think I may order dyes from Dharma after reading so many great things on here. Thank you so much to all of you who answer questions and share pics. It is not only an inspiration, but it helps to see how to do things. I do have a couple of questions:

Pixie Dust, the red that you spoke of in the previous post was fuchsia red. I love the way the design looks on your siggie, but does the red look pink at all? It doesn't in the pic, but the word fuchsia is throwing me off. I just don't want my boys to not want to wear a shirt because of them not liking a color.

Anyone have any favorite colors and/or color combinations that the love from Dharma?

Once you finish the basting stitch, do you tie it off? I know you are supposed to pull it tight, but do you actually make a knot?

Tinker, I tried clicking on the link that you had for a picture of your mickey head that you had sewn or maybe your Mickey ears template, but I could not get it to pop-up. Could you post it again? Also, my boys would love the Yoda shirt. I was going to try and make one for them. Would you be able to share your template?

One other question, for those who have used the bleach pen to redefine the Mickey head, do you do it after it has been rinsed and washed in the machine? Also, how long do you let the bleach stay on it? Do you then just wash in the washing machine? Does it get on any of the other colors?

Thank you again to everyone so much! I can't wait to do this project!

Sandi

Hi Sandi,

OK, the primary red is fuchsia red, and it does looks pink-is, if you mix it with a little yellow then you get a more red color, the one on my siggy looks more red I guess because its mixed with the rest of the colors.

In my case, I get different colors from dharma and just play with the colors combo, I like the primary colors, the reds, blues, purple etc.

About the bleach pen, use it after the shirt is wash and dry, let it dry, (air dry) then you can wash again if you like, and it shouldn't expand to the rest of the garment. But be careful, the bleach can ruin your whole shirt, my advice is to practice on a piece of cloth to see how long does it take to the bleach to react or to turn white then you can do it on your shirt.

Be patience and have fun.

 

[sandsummers]

Thank you PixieDust for taking the time to answer my questions. I am about to place my order Dharma now

 

[PixieDust32]

oops double post.

 

[PixieDust32]

You're welcome, anytime.

You also asked about the basting... After your pull the stitches really thigh, you can use the remaining of the string,thread,floss and tie it around a couple times.

I recommend you not to order the soda ash from Dharma, not that its bad or anything, but its heavy and the shipping would be expensive. You can find soda ash at your local wal mart or home depot, (swimming pool chemicals area) its also call Sodium carbonate.

 

[daemom]

Hi, the black i use is called "NEW black" from dharma. The colors on my syggy are the primary, fuchsia red,turquoise and lemon yellow.

On the Dharma main page, go to DYES, then TIE DYE, and you'll see the list of colors.

Thanks so much! I know that you do a lot of practice with using these colors and knew you'd know which black was the best to use! Now, to place that order!!

 

[PixieDust32]

Cool! Those are the most popular colors and they look cool too. Yup, I'd tried with other blacks and the new black was the best for me.

Have fun!

 

[PrincessMom4]

Pixie,

I just bought my dye. Three came in a box from joanne fabrics. There is no ash in the box/kit.

It says Tulip One-step Tie Dye..... I have not mixed anything yet...lol... I am just working on the ears drawing and basting it with dental floss (I hope that is correct).

 

[PixieDust32]

Hi princess mom, you probably got the tulip kit that has the soda ash in the water, however i had always do the soda ash soak step, that kit tells you to use it dry, i tried once and it didn't work for me. What you can do is get the soda ash pack from joans or michaels. Its a pack of the tulip soda ash per galon of water. So after you finish your ears on all your shirts go ahead and soak them for at least 30 min. if you want brighter colors with tulip you need ti fill the bottles a 3/4 of the bottle.

 

[PrincessMom4]

Hi princess mom, you probably got the tulip kit that has the soda ash in the water, however i had always do the soda ash soak step, that kit tells you to use it dry, i tried once and it didn't work for me. What you can do is get the soda ash pack from joans or michaels. Its a pack of the tulip soda ash per galon of water. So after you finish your ears on all your shirts go ahead and soak them for at least 30 min. if you want brighter colors with tulip you need ti fill the bottles a 3/4 of the bottle.

What exactly does the soda ash do?? The kit tells me to add water and then dry a certain way. I will get the soda if I need too.

So far so good

 

[PixieDust32]

What exactly does the soda ash do?? The kit tells me to add water and then dry a certain way. I will get the soda if I need too.

So far so good

Soda ash changes the pH of the fiber-reactive dye and cellulose fiber so that the dye reacts with the fiber, making a permanent connection that holds the dye to the fiber. It actually activates the fiber molecules so that they can chemically attack the dye.

If you don't want to use it that's fine, your kit does not require, just follow the instructions on your kit. Some kits have the soda ash in the dye.

 

[PrincessMom4]

Slight little tie-dye incident...lol....Well I think I got to slap-happy as I ran out of yellow after 3 or 4rd shirt and I had 7 to do. Then I did realized I didn't change my shirt and got a couple of spots on my WHITE shirt....any way to get this out??

I also wore gloves BUT my fingers are covered in blue dye. I hope I am not going to be a smurf forever. Any tips to help get this stuff off my finger??

 

[PixieDust32]

ohh boy! You can try to wash u shirt right away, you can use the bleach pen on the spot. About your skin dharma sells are product to remove the dye from your hands, but it would go away in a couple of days, my hands are always multi colors, the other day i got black dye and my finger nails look like a dead body, purple and black, dh calls me shrek when i get green on my hands haha, just wash them with soap and warm water, you should be ok.

 

[Bondfan531]

Ok so I'm doing this Saturday. I've put it off long enough. I printed out the mickey head and plan to trace that tonight on my shirt and my daughter's shirt then hopefully baste tonight as well and get them pulled up. I'll do the dying Saturday and let them sit over night and rinse Sunday. Honey, cross everything you have. I'm only posting results if they turn out worth a crap.

 

[PixieDust32]

 

[Bondfan531]

I traced the mickey heads and basted them with the dental floss and got them pulled tight and banded. All we have to do now is soak them in the soda ash tomorrow morning and then get to banding them off and dying. Our trip is in May. We leave May 21 and come back May 28. I sure hope they turn out worth a darn.

 

[robinb]

I traced the mickey heads and basted them with the dental floss and got them pulled tight and banded. All we have to do now is soak them in the soda ash tomorrow morning and then get to banding them off and dying. Our trip is in May. We leave May 21 and come back May 28. I sure hope they turn out worth a darn.

Yay! We need pictures!

One thing I wanted to share with everyone. Don't pull the floss too tight. Both my shirt and my DH's shirt developed holes around the Mickey. I didn't think that the shirts were poor quality and they seemed heavy enough but I still got holes . It was very disappointing after all the work I put into it and how cool the shirts really looked. I used a regular sized needle and Dollar Store unwaxed dental floss. Has anyone else had that problem?

 

[PixieDust32]

I had never used dental floss so i don't know, I do pull thight but a I use regular silk thread and regular needle, never had any holes problems.

 

[Bondfan531]

I used regular waxed dental floss, so we shall see

 

[Bondfan531]

Oh and I dug around and found my old school bedazzler gonna bling the heads up some maybe....