Tie Dye Instructions for Spiral Mickey Shirt

[quiltymom]

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.

Looks good to me! I didn't let my shirts air dry too much - I just squeezed (don't wring!) all the water out that I could. I found that they were easier to shape into the "danish" (I love that term!) when they were damp, but not dripping.

Just one tip:
I eyeballed where I thought the center of the shirt back would be before I twisted and a couple of them came out off-center - a little to the right or left. So if this is something you care about - the swirl being centered - you may want to mark the center back with a safety pin before soaking and removing it before twisting.

Have fun and we all can't wait to see your shirts! It's been fun to see everyone's finished product.

 

[Marshay]

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.

Yes, you got it (assuming you are using rubber bands in step 4)

Just to finish the steps:

6 - put shirt in plastic bag and let dry 24 hours (don't cheat and only do 12 hours)

7 - rinse shirt under water while removing rubber bands/thread or floss and then wash in washing machine (we had to do twice to get the dye from bleeding)...we also washed it in synthrapol which is supposed to help set the dye and keep it lasting longer...It came with the dye kit we got, so we used it...

 

[sjlupin]

Just one tip:
I eyeballed where I thought the center of the shirt back would be before I twisted and a couple of them came out off-center - a little to the right or left. So if this is something you care about - the swirl being centered - you may want to mark the center back with a safety pin before soaking and removing it before twisting.

I thought you were to start the twisting by grabbing the Mickey head pucker? I'm not sure what you mean I guess. Ha!

 

[quiltymom]

I thought you were to start the twisting by grabbing the Mickey head pucker? I'm not sure what you mean I guess. Ha!

Yes, you do, but you have to place the Mickey head somewhere on the shirt to begin. I'll try to step you through it, so please bear with me ...

Okay, your tee is puckered, soaked and squeezed. Now you need to twist.

1. To begin the twisting process, you'll need to flatten out the tee the best that you can with the pucker in the front. Depending on how large your head design is will depend on how much of your shirt is included in the pucker.
2. Because the pucker takes up a good part of the tee front, the side seams and shoulder seams will now be moved to the "front" of the shirt. In other words, part of the back is now temporarily the front only for twisting purposes. This is why I found it hard to find the center back of the shirt.
3. IF you care about the placement of the twist on the shirt back, you'll need to mark it beforehand. That way you'll not have to figure it out with the pucker.
4. Find the mark and place the pucker right on top of it, remove whatever you used to mark the spot, then start twisting. The pucker will give you a good handle to grip while you're twisting. Just remember that you will have to "help" the fabric move/twist depending upon your surface and how damp your fabric may be. The smoother the surface, the easier the twisting. Formica is good for this.
5. If you don't care where the swirl starts on the shirt back, just place the pucker anywhere and start twisting and be pleasantly surprised with what happens!

P.S. Be sure to push down when you twist or you will only twist the top of the shirt.


Does this help/answer your questions? Let me know if not.

 

[uncw89]

Quiltymom, Thanks for the detailed step by step directions! I'm going to do my shirts soon (we go in Nov) and you answered some of the few minor questions I had.
Elena

 

[quiltymom]

Quiltymom, Thanks for the detailed step by step directions! I'm going to do my shirts soon (we go in Nov) and you answered some of the few minor questions I had.
Elena

You're welcome! That's what this thread it all about. Just make sure to post your finished tees here so we can all ooh and aah over them.

 

[applechips]

Hi Everyone!

I am at WDW right now and we are wearing our newly tie dyed shirts. Here is how they came out:

Here is a pic from this am. dh closed his eyes!

I LOVE the way they turned out. I did a few others but not with the Mickey head and will post those another time.


I took detailed photos of the process and will post that in the near future. Briefly, I used:

Dharma Trading Procion fiber reactive dyes.
I tied one shirt and soaked it in the soda ash solution, then soaked the other shirts first and then tied them --the latter was MUCH easier to tie. It made no difference in the coloring of how and when I soaked the shirts.

Any questions just lmk!

 

[quiltymom]

applechips --

I just LOVE the intense colors in your shirts! They turned out great. Thanks for posting a photo of you wearing them, too.

And don't worry about your DH closing his eyes. Mine does with any outdoor shot. He thinks it looks better to have his eyes closed rather than to squint. Go figure!!!

Have a great time!

 

[sjlupin]

Okay, your tee is puckered, soaked and squeezed. Now you need to twist.
To begin the twisting process, you'll need to flatten out the tee the best that you can with the pucker in the front. Depending on how large your head design is will depend on how much of your shirt is included in the pucker.
Because the pucker takes up a good part of the tee front, the side seams and shoulder seams will now be moved to the "front" of the shirt. In other words, part of the back is now temporarily the front only for twisting purposes. This is why I found it hard to find the center back of the shirt.
IF you care about the placement of the twist on the shirt back, you'll need to mark it beforehand. That way you'll not have to figure it out with the pucker.
Find the mark and place the pucker right on top of it, remove whatever you used to mark the spot, then start twisting. The pucker will give you a good handle to grip while you're twisting. Just remember that you will have to "help" the fabric move/twist depending upon your surface and how damp your fabric may be. The smoother the surface, the easier the twisting. Formica is good for this.
If you don't care where the swirl starts on the shirt back, just place the pucker anywhere and start twisting and be pleasantly surprised with what happens!
P.S. Be sure to push down when you twist or you will only twist the top of the shirt.

Thanks SO much. This makes it quite clear and I totally understand what you meant now.


applechips - The shirts look GREAT!!!! I ordered Dharma dye as well and I am so excited about how awesome your colors came out!!!!

 

[Marshay]

Wonderful colors in the shirts... you can always tell when people use the Dharma Trading dyes -- they are worth it! You all look great with the shirts!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

WOW...the colors are fabulous. You have sold me on trying Dharma next time. Those are beautiful.

 

[daemom]

Approximately how much of the dye from Dharma are you guys ordering? I guess I'm wondering what the average amount you use per shirt? I've used the rainbow dyes before and know that you aren't able to dye teh amount that the kit says that yu can--although I do like brighter colors! All of these shirts look amazing!

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Where are you guys getting the all cotton white tee shirts? All AC Moore had was 50/50 and I wanted the brighter colors. I thought Old Navy would be good, as I get plain shirts for the boys to silkscreen at camp, but the season must be over 'cause they didn't have any. I know you can get Walmart/Fruit of the Loom/Hanes or something but I really wanted a better quality shirt than an undershirt, KWIM? Thanks!

 

[mom2mykids]

Awesome shirts! The colors are great! I'll have to try that brand of dye next time. I just have the kit from Michaels, we are going to do our second set of shirts this weekend...if I get all the mickey heads sown before the end of school tomorrow!

 

[KarenW]

Where are you guys getting the all cotton white tee shirts? All AC Moore had was 50/50 and I wanted the brighter colors. I thought Old Navy would be good, as I get plain shirts for the boys to silkscreen at camp, but the season must be over 'cause they didn't have any. I know you can get Walmart/Fruit of the Loom/Hanes or something but I really wanted a better quality shirt than an undershirt, KWIM? Thanks!

Walmart has Fruit of the Loom that are not undershirts. They are in the men & boys regular shirt section. Michaels fitted women's shirts are 100% cotton, but they run really small. I had to get an x-tra large & I am normally a medium. Hope this helps some.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Walmart has Fruit of the Loom that are not undershirts. They are in the men & boys regular shirt section. Michaels fitted women's shirts are 100% cotton, but they run really small. I had to get an x-tra large & I am normally a medium. Hope this helps some.

Thanks, I will have to go to Walmart...I could probably get a woman's shirt there too...

 

[sjlupin]

Where are you guys getting the all cotton white tee shirts?

I got my shirts from jiffyshirts.com. They have a great selection and they are CHEAP (I got 100% cotton white tees for $1.55 each!). Even with shipping cost, it was a great deal. They ship super fast too - within a few days I had my shirts. I just ordered about 30 from them!

 

[Marshay]

FYI -- For tall shirts (my DH and father), I got mine on clearance at JCP. They were more expensive (~$6) but the men needed longer shirts and they were really soft with a silk-spun 100% cotton fabric.

 

[dunbarfamily]

Thanks Marshay for the tip on Tall tshirts. My husband is 6'7" so he really needs a tall! I was afraid to get them from Penneys because I thought they'd be too undershirt-ish (read: thin) so I bought them from LL Bean. They were expensive, but its all I could find at the time.

Where can I get a template for the Mickey Head? Seriously, drawing stick people is challenging for this un-artist, so I can't freehand it. Any ideas? I've read some people use the kids' meals trays as the template, but I didn't save any from our last trip.

Thanks

 

[applechips]

Approximately how much of the dye from Dharma are you guys ordering? I guess I'm wondering what the average amount you use per shirt? I've used the rainbow dyes before and know that you aren't able to dye teh amount that the kit says that yu can--although I do like brighter colors! All of these shirts look amazing!

I ordered 4 oz in each of the colors I wanted, and double that for turquoise. I used 8 oz of water mixed with 1 Tablespoon of urea, then you add that to 4 teaspoons of the dye color (2-4x that amount for black and 2x that amount for turquoise). that made 8 oz of dye, and I had approximately 7 or 8 different colors. (The turquoise is the color blue in my shirts in my previous thread).

the larger adult shirts will use more dye. I would plan on using one 8 oz bottle in each of your colors if you are using 2-3 colors for 2 adult shirts and 2 kids shirts. You will still have plenty of the dye in the jars to mix up some more if you want it. Be sure to use gloves and squeeze the dyes into the folds, I used a chopstick to peer into the folds, you really have to get in there in order to get the dye in te folds to avoid lots of white in your shirts.

I used Target brand "Cherokee" shirts for the child's shirts, and I had a " Hanes beefy T shirt" from Dharma, and then I scored a package of 2 Hanes brand, "Premium" tshirts that Target had. I had to go to two different Target's to find that "Premium" tshirt. they were in the men's section.

Next time I am just going to plan ahead a bit and order the shirts from Dharma.

Beware that once you tie dye you will want to dye everything you can think of to finish up the unsed mixed up dye! LOL I bought a package of Hanes women's undies and tie dyed me some undies!! they turned out great! Socks... hats... towels, sheets. . .