Tie Dye Instructions for Spiral Mickey Shirt

[quiltymom]

Okay - here is the finish product.

The girl's shirts:

Front

Back

Here's a close-up of the rhinestones on the Mickey head:

The boy's shirts:

Front

Back

I am happy with the way they turned out and the family is thrilled with them. The only surprise is just how pink the red was. Now, I have had this Jacquard kit for about 9 years so I have no idea if the age of the dyes had anything to do with the more pastel colors. They were very rich colors when the process was finished, but lightened up considerably in the wash.

This was the large kit for 14 shirts, and I ran out of yellow. I wanted to get more color blending on the shirts. All I needed was a little bit more of the yellow to complete them, so now I have the red & blue dyes for a later project. Red, white & blue Mickey tees, perhaps?

I used the Beadazzled stone setter for the rhinestones on DD's shirt. By the time I got around to my shirt I gave up on the thing and placed the rhinestones by hand. It was much easier to do that (granted, it did a number to my thumbnails, but I don't have glamorous nails to begin with) because I didn't have to go back and fix the over half of the stones that didn't set well. And it was faster and I wasn't ruining one out of every five stones. It really didn't work well.

DD's shirt also had 5% spandex in it, so I was concerned about that. But there was nothing to fear there.

I tried to keep the Mickey heads white but even with wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap the colors still bled. So, I just made a small batch of DIS green and made them all alike. I must admit that by that time in the project I was ready to be finished!

I decided not to touch up the heads with the bleach pen and just leave them as is. DH liked the way his just kinda forms out of the spiral and is not too noticeable.

My new tips -

• start with dying the underside of the shirt bundle first, then dye the top
• pull the head cloth up a bit from the rest of the bundle
• make sure you have enough extra dye on hand so you don't have to run to the store mid-process!
• used an old cookie rack to let the shirts drain on for a bit before wrapping them in plastic.
• Wear a plastic apron! I used an old shirt to cover myself but I still got some dye on my favorite white cotton tee. Stupid, stupid, stupid, I know.

The first two tips may have helped keep the head area white. Who knows...

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Marshay]

Wonderful shirts quiltymom and I love the Rhinestone additions...

thanks for the input on the Beadazzler...I've wondered about how well it worked vs. just doing by hand.

I thought I ready something on the Dharma site that said after 6 months the dyes start to lose their quality color...but I like the way yours turned out and think that the softer color looks better than a Fire Engine Red!

 

[MickeynMinnie]

here are the tye-dye t-shirts we made for the MNNSHP!!!! i did 3 of them... here is one of them! I can post the other ones once i get a pic of them!!! this is my brothers... mine is a tank top and my friends is another t-shirt. If you see us there on the 21st stop and say hi!!!!

 

[Marshay]

here are the tye-dye t-shirts we made for the MNNSHP!!!! i did 3 of them... here is one of them! I can post the other ones once i get a pic of them!!! this is my brothers... mine is a tank top and my friends is another t-shirt. If you see us there on the 21st stop and say hi!!!!

Very cool shirt!!! I'll look for you on the 21st (but we aren't doing MNSSHP)

 

[Who'syourMickey]

Okay - here is the finish product.

The girl's shirts:

Front

Back

Here's a close-up of the rhinestones on the Mickey head:

The boy's shirts:

Front

Back

I am happy with the way they turned out and the family is thrilled with them. The only surprise is just how pink the red was. Now, I have had this Jacquard kit for about 9 years so I have no idea if the age of the dyes had anything to do with the more pastel colors. They were very rich colors when the process was finished, but lightened up considerably in the wash.

This was the large kit for 14 shirts, and I ran out of yellow. I wanted to get more color blending on the shirts. All I needed was a little bit more of the yellow to complete them, so now I have the red & blue dyes for a later project. Red, white & blue Mickey tees, perhaps?

I used the Beadazzled stone setter for the rhinestones on DD's shirt. By the time I got around to my shirt I gave up on the thing and placed the rhinestones by hand. It was much easier to do that (granted, it did a number to my thumbnails, but I don't have glamorous nails to begin with) because I didn't have to go back and fix the over half of the stones that didn't set well. And it was faster and I wasn't ruining one out of every five stones. It really didn't work well.

DD's shirt also had 5% spandex in it, so I was concerned about that. But there was nothing to fear there.

I tried to keep the Mickey heads white but even with wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap the colors still bled. So, I just made a small batch of DIS green and made them all alike. I must admit that by that time in the project I was ready to be finished!

I decided not to touch up the heads with the bleach pen and just leave them as is. DH liked the way his just kinda forms out of the spiral and is not too noticeable.

My new tips -

• start with dying the underside of the shirt bundle first, then dye the top
• pull the head cloth up a bit from the rest of the bundle
• make sure you have enough extra dye on hand so you don't have to run to the store mid-process!
• used an old cookie rack to let the shirts drain on for a bit before wrapping them in plastic.
• Wear a plastic apron! I used an old shirt to cover myself but I still got some dye on my favorite white cotton tee. Stupid, stupid, stupid, I know.

The first two tips may have helped keep the head area white. Who knows...

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions.

I love your shirts!

 

[Imagoofy1]

the shirts came out very nice - love them

 

[MickeynMinnie]

Very cool shirt!!! I'll look for you on the 21st (but we aren't doing MNSSHP)

thank you thank you!! It took me forever to figure out how to make these shirts!!! now that i figured it out it's not so bad!!! lol I'll be there wearing my t-shirt!!! also decorating my window at POP!!!

 

[quiltymom]

thank you thank you!! It took me forever to figure out how to make these shirts!!! now that i figured it out it's not so bad!!! lol I'll be there wearing my t-shirt!!! also decorating my window at POP!!!

So, will you be making another set anytime soon? I think that it's rather addicting!

 

[MickeynMinnie]

So, will you be making another set anytime soon? I think that it's rather addicting!

I have some orders from some friends!!! lol so yes i will be making a bunch of them!!! and your right! very addicting!!!

 

[vllygrrl]

Thank you all for the great instructions - I made 8 shirts for our group (just the moms and kids - the Dads said no way!) and because of them we were stopped by a member of the Dream Team on the way out of the Magic Kingdom last Sunday and treated to a private meet & greet with Cinderella! It was our first day in the parks, and was really special for the kids!

 

[Marshay]

Thank you all for the great instructions - I made 8 shirts for our group (just the moms and kids - the Dads said no way!) and because of them we were stopped by a member of the Dream Team on the way out of the Magic Kingdom last Sunday and treated to a private meet & greet with Cinderella! It was our first day in the parks, and was really special for the kids!

Woo Hoo!!! What's this with the dads not wanting to be a part of the magic???!!

Good for you all to meet Cinderella!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Woo Hoo!!! What's this with the dads not wanting to be a part of the magic???!!

!

My DH told me that he spent his teenage years AVOIDING tye dye! Why would he want to wear it now!!!! But he did, for me, with the Mickey shirts. I think he did kind of enjoy the attention we got with them!

 

[Marshay]

My DH told me that he spent his teenage years AVOIDING tye dye! Why would he want to wear it now!!!! But he did, for me, with the Mickey shirts. I think he did kind of enjoy the attention we got with them!

My DH said, "You know I haven't even made a comment about not wearing the shirts...you do know that, right?" Sort of defeated the statement but I made sure to give him lots of kudos that he was willing to wear his shirt when other DHs on here aren't.

 

[Princess Stitch]

Well, the shirts came out OK. I now understand why you need 100% cotton though. The colours instead of being rich and dark came out kinda pastel-like. DBF was even willing to wear his shirt anyhow, but I coudln't do that to him in public, it's just not polite.. I'm going to wear my shirt though! If I have some time tonight I'll post pictures of it. Maybe if I'm really lucky I'll be able to pick up some more shirts and make another batch before I leave this weekend.

 

[Marshay]

Well, the shirts came out OK. I now understand why you need 100% cotton though. The colours instead of being rich and dark came out kinda pastel-like. DBF was even willing to wear his shirt anyhow, but I coudln't do that to him in public, it's just not polite.. I'm going to wear my shirt though! If I have some time tonight I'll post pictures of it. Maybe if I'm really lucky I'll be able to pick up some more shirts and make another batch before I leave this weekend.

Good luck to ya! I had a choice of 50/50 no pocket or 100% cotton with a pocket for my DH, DD and Dad...i chose the 100% cotton based on what everyone said on here...and with the design it's hard to see the pocket anyway...

now that you know what you are doing, it'll be easier if you choose to redo the shirts.

Go ahead and wear the pastel ones anyway -- REAL MEN WEAR PASTEL!!

 

[sjlupin]

Quick Questions ... do you soak the shirt in soda ash before bunding into the danish or after? I think I have seen it listed both ways and am wondering which is best????

Thanks!

 

[Marshay]

Quick Questions ... do you soak the shirt in soda ash before bunding into the danish or after? I think I have seen it listed both ways and am wondering which is best????

Thanks!

If you are using the dry dye method (crystal), then you just soak the shirt in plain water and sprinkle the dye. Then you wet with liquid soda ash solution.

I don't think there is a "best" -- there are two different ways of doing the shirts, so it depends on which method you are using as to when you use the soda ash solution.

Dry Dye = Soda Ash afterwards
Liquid Dye = soda ash before

Hope that helps!

 

[quiltymom]

Quick Questions ... do you soak the shirt in soda ash before bunding into the danish or after? I think I have seen it listed both ways and am wondering which is best????

Thanks!

I have done it both ways and have decided that doing it before bundling works best. Here's why:

• you have to get the shirts wet before bundling, so why not soak it in the soda ash first and delete one step
• once it has been bundled it is harder to wring out the excess moisture. You don't want the shirts too wet before applying the dye.

Either way you'll be fine. It's just important to get the soda ash on the cloth first before wet dying. I've not done the crystal method yet - maybe that'll be my next project! (yeah - like I need another one of those! )

 

[sjlupin]

Dry Dye = Soda Ash afterwards
Liquid Dye = soda ash before

Thank you Marshay!!

I am going to do liquid dye for this first batch. So basically I:
1 - sew mickey
2 - pucker his little head
3- soak in the soda ash
(I think I read to then let the shirt air dry a bit at this point so that it isn't soaking wet????)
4 - Twist and make my danish
5 - Start dying!

Doesn't that sound roughly correct????

I can't wait to try this!

We are doing a couple sets of Mickeys, then for my DDs bday I think we are going to try the same things with cat head instead of Mickey. She
LOVES cats.

 

[sjlupin]

you have to get the shirts wet before bundling, so why not skip that step and soak it first
once it has been bundled it is harder to wring out the excess moisture. You don't want the shirts too wet before applying the dye.

Thanks quiltymom. That answers my question about letting the soda ash soaked shirt dry a bit too. I thought I had read a tip that it is better if it isn't too wet, just damp.

Thanks!