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{DIY Tie-Dyed T-Shirts}

DIY Tie-Dyed T-Shirts for the Whole Family - hungry caterpillar colours



This week we made tie-dyed t-shirts for the whole family! Not that I'm particularly into tie-dye, but they turned out so well, I just love them!


close up of sharpie marker tie-dyed shirt


I followed the instructions I found here. All you need is some permanent markers (we got some at the local dollar store), some rubbing alcohol (from the pharmacy), and a dropper (we got a 2-pack on sale at Michael's last week). And some plain shirts (we got ours at Joe Fresh).



child using sharpie markers to make DIY tie-dye - circles and dots

Draw a circle of dots, then another circle of dots around it in a different colour, and then another around that (you could keep going as many times as you like, really).



child using a dropper to squirt rubbing alcohol onto DIY tie-dyed shirts


Then use the dropper to add a squirt of rubbing alcohol in the centre. As the alcohol is absorbed into the fabric, it catches the colours and they bleed outwards in a circle.




dad making diy tie-dyed shirts

That's it! They were so fun and simple to make, even Daddy Pea got in on the crafting action!

Tips: Put a piece of cardboard or something inside the shirt so the colours don't bleed through to the back of the shirt (we used the pieces of cardboard that came inside the onesies packaging). And hang them up to dry so that the front and backs don't touch. We hung them over lamps and the seat of the exercise bike! You could also just leave them drying flat on the table, but we needed the table space.

Then I ironed them to set the colours. I don't think I did that very well, though, and the lighter colours (yellow and, to a lesser extent, the pink) did wash out somewhat. The dark colours stayed better. The instructions we used suggested that cheap-o markers worked best for 'bleeding', but perhaps real Sharpie markers would have had better staying power? If you try it, let me know!


Gorgeous! DIY tie-dyed shirts with Sharpie markers - turned out great!

And here are the results - pretty darned fantastic, if I do say so myself!




daddy and daughter giggling in their matching DIY tie-dye t-shirts


For another fun way to make DIY t-shirts, check out this link!


http://www.mamapeapod.com/2014/05/three-to-five-playful-preschool-new-resource-parents.html 

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