Tie Dye Instructions for Spiral Mickey Shirt

[Marshay]

Hi, everyone.
Over August and early September, I read every post and looked at every picture on this thread. Thanks to all who posted pictures and tips. I felt confident that this was something I could do. Spent a few weeks gathering supplies, using my 40% off coupons at Michaels and AC Moore

Did my shirts last weekend, pics posted below. I really wanted more blue and purple, but they ended up with alot of green. I guess that is the beauty and originality of tie dying, you're never really sure what you're going to end up with.

I am not a big t-shirt wearer. So everyone's assignment was to buy a white cotton shirt that was to their taste. The men got regular craft store cotton t-shirts. I bought a ladies all cotton tee with a v-neck, but it was a bit thicker than a regular t-shirt, with a brushed feel, a little stretchy, even though it had no spandex in it. Two of the shirts had 1-2% spandex. I bought the sythrapol detergent to wash the shirts, just to be extra careful.

The regular men's cotton t-shirts faded the most in the post-dye washing process. The colors stayed most vibrant and contained (with less bleeding together) on the shirts with the spandex. The two cotton v-necks were good, too, but just a shade less vibrant than the ones containing spandex.

I thought I tied my mickey heads tight enough and made the rubber bands tight, but the green dye really seeped through, so I did have to touch up three of the shirts with the clorox gel bleach pen.

I'm very happy with them for a first attempt. Looking forward to doing a second batch sometime in different colors.

Here are my pictures, look forward to wearing the shirts NEXT WEEK!!!!

Thanks again to all who posted tips and pictures. Made all the difference!

GoofyWalker

The pictures don't appear on this thread for me...

 

[GoofyWalker]

sorry, got extra characters in the address when inserting. Try now!

 

[Gillian]

I love everyone's shirts! I think it's time to place an order with Dharma trading.

GoofyWalker, were the mens shirts 50/50 or 100% cotton? I know my AC Moore only has 50/50 shirts, which don't come out as nice usually.

I did a bunch over the summer just using packs of tees from Walmart. The colors came out great, it didn't cost a lot of money, and they look fine. They're not that thick, but we made so many so it was the best thing to do. They were giveaways for a party, not for the family.

 

[jordancej]

sjlupin - Your shirts came out AWESOME!!! I cant believe how vibrant your colors are! I will definetly use that brand next time!!

 

[sjlupin]

sjlupin - Your shirts came out AWESOME!!! I cant believe how vibrant your colors are! I will definetly use that brand next time!!

Thanks so much! The Dharma dyes are awesome. The colors come out so great. Here is one we did with some other Dharma colors; I just love how dark and vibrant the colors come out:

 

[GoofyWalker]

I love everyone's shirts! I think it's time to place an order with Dharma trading.

GoofyWalker, were the mens shirts 50/50 or 100% cotton? I know my AC Moore only has 50/50 shirts, which don't come out as nice usually.

I did a bunch over the summer just using packs of tees from Walmart. The colors came out great, it didn't cost a lot of money, and they look fine. They're not that thick, but we made so many so it was the best thing to do. They were giveaways for a party, not for the family.

Hmm, I thought they were 100% cotton, but now I'm not sure. I will check when I get home. I got mine at Michael's. Overall, I really think the higher thread count per inch of the women's shirts over a thin white men's t-shirt really helped grab the dye and hold it where it was applied. I also think I need to squeeze out a bit more water after the soak in soda ash, to prevent so much bleeding out.

Also re-read a few posts, and saw the one about stitching a second line around the Mickey Head a half inch away. I will definitely try this next time!

Since I guess I'm definitely planning on doing this again, I think I will definitely invest in the Dharma Trading dyes, although the Tulip kit did work fine for my first time!

 

[sjlupin]

Hmm, I thought they were 100% cotton, but now I'm not sure. I will check when I get home. I got mine at Michael's. Overall, I really think the higher thread count per inch of the women's shirts over a thin white men's t-shirt really helped grab the dye and hold it where it was applied. I also think I need to squeeze out a bit more water after the soak in soda ash, to prevent so much bleeding out.

Also re-read a few posts, and saw the one about stitching a second line around the Mickey Head a half inch away. I will definitely try this next time!

Since I guess I'm definitely planning on doing this again, I think I will definitely invest in the Dharma Trading dyes, although the Tulip kit did work fine for my first time!

I got all of our shirts from jiffyshirts.com. I had to pay some shipping, but they were only $1.55 to begin with (for good quality 100% cotton shirts) so it was still a good deal and the shipping is super fast - I got my stuff within a couple of days!

Also, as a warning ... the Dharma shipping was very sloooooow ....

 

[GoofyWalker]

I got all of our shirts from jiffyshirts.com. I had to pay some shipping, but they were only $1.55 to begin with (for good quality 100% cotton shirts) so it was still a good deal and the shipping is super fast - I got my stuff within a couple of days!

Also, as a warning ... the Dharma shipping was very sloooooow ....

I will check out jiffyshirts, but the reason I bought a ladies style shirt is that I don't really care for the fit of cotton t-shirts. AND, what I forgot to mention was that I got these on end of summer clearance, so the styled shirts were only $2.40, not a big difference from $2 on sale at Michaels and I am so much happier with the fit.

I will ALWAYS be keeping my eye open for clearance ladies white T's from now on!! Thanks to whomever it was that posted that she bought any white garment from a thrift store for her kids. I'd have never thought to do it otherwise.

 

[Gillian]

GoofyWalker, my shirts were just undershirts, but I washed them in hot water first to shrink, and used Dharma dyes and they are very vibrant. Even now after washing A LOT!

Women's shirts are really something I need to keep an eye out for. I did pick up a fitted women's shirt at Michaels for DD but it's still a little big on her.

I want to do some in blues, like the ones posted recently. They're so nice!

Here are our shirts again (from a party). They're undershirts washed first, tied while damp from our front load washer (spins pretty dry), then soaked as danishes, and squeezed out before dying.

 

[Gillian]

I can't remember if I posted this before, but we made shirts at a campground over the summer with 2 colors (no pictures).

All we did was twist into spiral and rubber band, then dip half in one color and half in another. They came out great and were so easy to do! Just be sure you want the 1st color to run into the second color a little, because it will be on top. Pick colors that blend nicely, ie not Yellow and purple, because you'll make brown.

 

[Twingle]

I can't remember if I posted this before, but we made shirts at a campground over the summer with 2 colors (no pictures).

All we did was twist into spiral and rubber band, then dip half in one color and half in another. They came out great and were so easy to do! Just be sure you want the 1st color to run into the second color a little, because it will be on top. Pick colors that blend nicely, ie not Yellow and purple, because you'll make brown.

I'm sorry, but that is clear as mud to me. So, when you had your shirt in the "danish" shape, you dipped half the danish into one color dye, and then flipped it and put the other half of the danish into another color dye?

What did you have the dye in - a bucket?

More info please, whenever you have time!

 

[glassslipper2004]

We were at WDW last week and happily wore our t-shirts - what fun! Of course, I wanted to post a picture but can't find the thread that tells you how.

I even saw another Mickey spiral t-shirt wearer, and tried to say hi, but we got separated at Kali River Rapids... anyone on this thread at Animal Kingdom last Friday?

Thanks to all for the tips and encouragement. The shirts gave me great pleasure, and we got lots of happy comments.

 

[GoofyWalker]

I will check out jiffyshirts, but the reason I bought a ladies style shirt is that I don't really care for the fit of cotton t-shirts. AND, what I forgot to mention was that I got these on end of summer clearance, so the styled shirts were only $2.40, not a big difference from $2 on sale at Michaels and I am so much happier with the fit.

I will ALWAYS be keeping my eye open for clearance ladies white T's from now on!! Thanks to whomever it was that posted that she bought any white garment from a thrift store for her kids. I'd have never thought to do it otherwise.

Well, I never even really checked, just assumed. But the men's cotton t-shirts from Michaels are the Jerzees brand, and they are, indeed, a 50/50 blend. No wonder they faded a bit more than the others. I still think they turned out pretty good. Other posts say that the 50/50's will give you pastel colors, and while mine are a bit more faded, the colors are still fairly bright. I will definitely check out jiffyshirt for the next time!! Or just buy packs of them at Walmart for the men. Will be interested to see how they all hold up after multiple washings!

 

[Gillian]

I'm sorry, but that is clear as mud to me. So, when you had your shirt in the "danish" shape, you dipped half the danish into one color dye, and then flipped it and put the other half of the danish into another color dye?

What did you have the dye in - a bucket?

More info please, whenever you have time!

Sorry about that! It was a group activity for kids at a campground, so they had foil pans full of RIT dye. Everyone squatted around the various pans holding their shirts in the dye. So yes, it was sort of in a bucket!

It was $5 including a white shirt with the campground logo, so totally worth it. My son did blue on one half and green on the other and it made a really nice spiral. It would have been difficult to do 3 colors, I think. But really, the half & half method gave a great look. Other people did red and orange that looked cool too.

To continue the food analogies, it was like a black & white cookie.

 

[Gillian]

I just ordered dye to make some shirts for our December trip. Maybe I'll get some tulip dye to try it out first. That mickey head looks challenging.

 

[sjlupin]

I just ordered dye to make some shirts for our December trip. Maybe I'll get some tulip dye to try it out first. That mickey head looks challenging.

It's really not bad. I admit that the first time I did the sewing, I didn't have alot of faith. As I did it, I was saying 'I don't know about this'. But lo and behold, the 1st batch came out pretty good. I definately recommend using the waxed dental floss. I tried using clear thread and it was too slippery to work with and gather. I also recommend keeping the stitches on the small side and close together. I think that helped my with the definition of my Mickey heads on the second batch.

Give it a try and have fun!!!

 

[Twingle]

Sorry about that! It was a group activity for kids at a campground, so they had foil pans full of RIT dye. Everyone squatted around the various pans holding their shirts in the dye. So yes, it was sort of in a bucket!

It was $5 including a white shirt with the campground logo, so totally worth it. My son did blue on one half and green on the other and it made a really nice spiral. It would have been difficult to do 3 colors, I think. But really, the half & half method gave a great look. Other people did red and orange that looked cool too.

To continue the food analogies, it was like a black & white cookie.

Thanks for the additonal information - I undestand now!

 

[mouselovr]

OK I have photos of my shirts if I could only figure out how to post them I would love to share them! If kind person could help me I would really appriciate it.
Thanks
Stacy

 

[tink4]

Mine and DD

DH and DS

Back of mine and DD

Back of DH and DS

I think they turned out pretty good for my first time tie dying ever. Ihad to go around DS's with a bleach pen to make the Mickey head stand out more, but I think it looks good.

 

[gnbuggy]

All of those shirts are great . I ordered a Dharma catalog, such great colors. I think I might have to make more shirts.