Tie Dye Instructions for Spiral Mickey Shirt

[Ashlander]

A question about ordering from Dharma...when I order the dye, do they include a bottle with it to apply? I saw bottles come with the kit...but I'm ordering more colors than what comes in the kit.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[PixieDust32]

No, you have to buy the bottles separate. They only send you the dye.

 

[quiltymom]

PixieDust,

Which Dharma colors did you use for your "candy corn" tees? Are they just plain yellow, orange & black?

How many tees would each set of colors make? (I'm making four)

Thanks...


Oh, and I'm going to try the Tulip Glitter Bond to put some transparent glitter on the girl's tees - just for something different! I'll let ya'll know how it works!

 

[PixieDust32]

PixieDust,

Which Dharma colors did you use for your "candy corn" tees? Are they just plain yellow, orange & black?

How many tees would each set of colors make? (I'm making four)

Thanks...


Oh, and I'm going to try the Tulip Glitter Bond to put some transparent glitter on the girl's tees - just for something different! I'll let ya'll know how it works!

Hi

I used Yellow, orange and black. Dharma has a couple blacks, I used "new black"
Well each color comes in a container, 2oz per little jar, and just follow the instructions on the dharma website. If the jar doesnt have a * is 2 teaspoons per 8oz of water, so for a little 4oz bottle you use 1 teaspoon, unless the jar has a * like the Tuorquoise then is 2 teaspoons.
But yes, you can easy make 4 shirts.

Cool, I had never use the glitter bond, what you do with it?

 

[raftislander]

Thanks for the great feedback on my shirts.

I did wash all of my shirts in hot water before I dyed. With three different families and a variety of shapes and sizes, I was working with a variety of shirts, but all 100% cotton. I guess that I was worried about sizing, etc., affecting the absorption of the dye.

As for the bleach pen, I did a little clean up on one of my ears where it had come out too thick at the lower join with the head. I tried it both wet and dry and I thought you had better control of the bleeding when the shirt was dry. I agree with pixie dust that you need to be careful about how much you use.

Two other pieces of advice that I would give to those thinking about doing this: 1)have a bowl of water at the ready for washing dye off your rubber gloves as you change colors; and, 2) if you are planning to do a large number of shirts (or planning to do this with kids), I recommend trying a practice round on one or two shirts first so you get comfortable with the process.

 

[quiltymom]

Thanks for the dye info!

Cool, I had never use the glitter bond, what you do with it?

I'll either do the mickey head, and/or just do random glitter spots here and there. I put rhinestones on the mickey outline for the first shirts I ever made, and my DD was disappointed that I didn't do anything for the second set. When I saw this in the store this afternoon I thought that it would be worth a try to add some bling in a different way. Now to see if it works!

 

[PixieDust32]

Thanks for the great feedback on my shirts.

I did wash all of my shirts in hot water before I dyed. With three different families and a variety of shapes and sizes, I was working with a variety of shirts, but all 100% cotton. I guess that I was worried about sizing, etc., affecting the absorption of the dye.

As for the bleach pen, I did a little clean up on one of my ears where it had come out too thick at the lower join with the head. I tried it both wet and dry and I thought you had better control of the bleeding when the shirt was dry. I agree with pixie dust that you need to be careful about how much you use.

Two other pieces of advice that I would give to those thinking about doing this: 1)have a bowl of water at the ready for washing dye off your rubber gloves as you change colors; and, 2) if you are planning to do a large number of shirts (or planning to do this with kids), I recommend trying a practice round on one or two shirts first so you get comfortable with the process.

Thanks for the tips! I do that, the bowl of water to rinse the gloves. I never make too many at once, takes to long and you'll get stress out.

 

[PixieDust32]

Thanks for the dye info!



I'll either do the mickey head, and/or just do random glitter spots here and there. I put rhinestones on the mickey outline for the first shirts I ever made, and my DD was disappointed that I didn't do anything for the second set. When I saw this in the store this afternoon I thought that it would be worth a try to add some bling in a different way. Now to see if it works!

Oh cool! Can't wait to see.

 

[IWannaBeAPrincess]

This is my first try "test" shirt.

This is a totally worn out undershirt that was all yellowed from age. I didn't waste the soda ash on it, just dyed it, only waited 6 hours - basically this was a test to work out my Mickey head. My next 9 will wait 24 hours.

I think I did well for my first try. I thought the hardest part was the spinning the shirt into the danish thing...

I used Dharma inks (Light red, turquoise, lemon yellow, and new black)

The coloring is much better in person. I took this with my iphone in a fluorescent lit laundry room.

So here is my final product (well 4 out of 9 of them, since I have 2 more waiting, and 3 more to dye. This is a long process when you have 9 to do!)

Thanks for looking!

 

[IWannaBeAPrincess]

My tips.
I used a washable crayola marker to mark on the Mickey head.
I basted the Mickey head (in dental floss) and then after pulling it tight, I carefully lined up the marker line into a straight line before banding so that mickey would be defined perfectly.
I made several wraps of the dental floss before I tied it off.
Then I used 1 silicone Ouchless rubber band
Then 2-3 regular rubber bands after that. In retrospect, I recommend 2 rubber bands, as tight as you can get them. If you use too many, the white band around Mickeys head is too defined.
I didn't fork over the money for Syntropol, instead I used about a 1/2 cup of powdered clorox bleach for colors (recommended on other tie dye sites) and 2 Shout Color Catchers in the wash. Shirts actually have crisper colors now!

here's the after the wash, nearly dry:

 

[PixieDust32]

Very nice! Thanks for the tips. You did great.

 

[Bondfan531]

My tips.
I used a washable crayola marker to mark on the Mickey head.
I basted the Mickey head (in dental floss) and then after pulling it tight, I carefully lined up the marker line into a straight line before banding so that mickey would be defined perfectly.
I made several wraps of the dental floss before I tied it off.
Then I used 1 silicone Ouchless rubber band
Then 2-3 regular rubber bands after that. In retrospect, I recommend 2 rubber bands, as tight as you can get them. If you use too many, the white band around Mickeys head is too defined.
I didn't fork over the money for Syntropol, instead I used about a 1/2 cup of powdered clorox bleach for colors (recommended on other tie dye sites) and 2 Shout Color Catchers in the wash. Shirts actually have crisper colors now!

here's the after the wash, nearly dry:

Those look great! Can I ask though what you mean by "I carefully lined up the marker line into a straight line before banding...." I'm trying to visualize this. LOL I'm a visual person. LOL.

I sooooo gotta get on mine and my daughter's and nieces' shirts for our May trip. I'm chicken

 

[MusicMouse]

My tips.
I used a washable crayola marker to mark on the Mickey head.
I basted the Mickey head (in dental floss) and then after pulling it tight, I carefully lined up the marker line into a straight line before banding so that mickey would be defined perfectly.
I made several wraps of the dental floss before I tied it off.
Then I used 1 silicone Ouchless rubber band
Then 2-3 regular rubber bands after that. In retrospect, I recommend 2 rubber bands, as tight as you can get them. If you use too many, the white band around Mickeys head is too defined.
I didn't fork over the money for Syntropol, instead I used about a 1/2 cup of powdered clorox bleach for colors (recommended on other tie dye sites) and 2 Shout Color Catchers in the wash. Shirts actually have crisper colors now!

here's the after the wash, nearly dry:

These look fantastic! What colors did you use? Did you use a kit?

 

[PixieDust32]

Love the primary bright colors

 

[PixieDust32]

More socks...

 

[PixieDust32]

A couple more for inspiration...

 

[jojo9610]

PixieDust-
Can you tell us what product exactly that you use to outline your Mickey Heads. I've looked back at your posts and many have asked but you've never said exactly what product you use. Maybe you did but I just overlooked it.
I was just wondering because I would like to get the same crisp lines.

 

[IWannaBeAPrincess]

Those look great! Can I ask though what you mean by "I carefully lined up the marker line into a straight line before banding...." I'm trying to visualize this. LOL I'm a visual person. LOL.

I sooooo gotta get on mine and my daughter's and nieces' shirts for our May trip. I'm chicken

When you baste (bast? ) around the Mickey head, you sew on the line that you traced with the crayola washable marker of your pattern. Then you pull it tight, and you'll see the squished up line and it goes all around the circle of the Mickey head. Line up that squished up marker line (and you'll know what I mean when you try it). Make it a straight line, it will zig-zag naturally.

If you mess up - who cares - just draw your Mickey head back on it!

Phew! Just finished cleaning up after coloring the last 3 shirts.

 

[IWannaBeAPrincess]

These look fantastic! What colors did you use? Did you use a kit?

I bought 4 dyes from Dharma.

I bought Turquoise, bright yellow, light red, and New black.

I posted my colors earlier, but I think I didn't get the names right, then. After more and more dying, I'm very familiar with the color names now... LOL

I bought 5 squeeze bottles, 1lb of soda ash, 4- 2oz powdered dyes, and 2 tshirts. Got one free tshirt, since I was a first time customer. The total was like $35, BUT the 3-day cheap shipping was $15.00 (only 1.50 more than 10 day ship). So I paid $50 for all that. I needed enough dye for 9 shirts, so if I bought craft store dye kits, it would have probably gone way over that, cause the dye in the kits doesn't go far.

Thankfully the Dharma inks, go on and on and on, since the measurement of dye (2oz is what I got) they sell are powder and you add water. I have enough dye left over to dye like 50 more shirts.

Ooh another tip...

I dyed half the shirt yellow, then made a quarter turn and dyed half of the shirt red (so the overlapped part was orange), then turned another quarter turn, and dyed it blue. Then I got 6 colors, instead of just the 3. Dharma inks mix very well with minimal effort.

Let me point out that this is the first time in my life I've ever done tie dye (HOURS AND HOURS OF RESEARCH BEFORE THOUGH ). That is why I want to share my "lessons learned." Because other than our resident professionals, 99% of the people reading this thread have never done it. I'm not at all pretending to have all the answers - just trying to help your first experience go as well as mine did!

Good luck with your shirts and thank you to our resident experts that have posted their instructions and beautiful work!!!

 

[PixieDust32]

PixieDust-
Can you tell us what product exactly that you use to outline your Mickey Heads. I've looked back at your posts and many have asked but you've never said exactly what product you use. Maybe you did but I just overlooked it.
I was just wondering because I would like to get the same crisp lines.

The shirts with the thin lines aroung the mickey I used bleach pen, sometimes the dye runs wild and i have to re touch them. The others like the ones above I didn't use any other product, just the same steps rubber bands around the mickey, really tight, nothing else you can even see the stitches marks on the edges of the ears.