Shades of Green Tie Dye

I don’t know what it is about quarantine, but everyone is very obsessed with tie- dye. It almost seems like cool kids things and therefore I had to get going and tie dye some things. The truth is, I don’t own many white items, like not even socks. I have a few tee shirts and some tea towels, but that is about it! I have tie dyed in the past but I have never been amazing at it. Mainly because tie dye is a pretty risky craft unless you are a professional at it (are their professional tye dye makers? Beats me). Anyway, when it comes to tie dye you are just hoping on a wing and a prayer that it does not turn out ugly and that you can actually wear these items one day. I think now it is trying to figure out how to make something with tie dye and not look like a 3rd grader. That is why I chose just one color and different variations of that color. I love how subtle it all is, not be TOO green. I hope this post makes you want to try tie dying out! 

SUPPLIES 

-Squeeze Bottles (you can totally use water bottles that have squeeze tops) 

-RIT Dye 

-Large Plastic Tubs 

-Rubber Gloves 

-Rubber Bands 

-Plastic Bands 

LET’S GET DYING 

Step One: Fold all the fabrics that you are using and secure with rubber bands. I tried all different techniques like swirl, scrunch, fold. I like the scrunch the most because it gives more of a subtle blotchy pattern whereas the others I was more focused on making them “perfect”. I learned that it's all pretty trial and error when it comes to tie dying so experimenting and putting good vibes out is key! 

Step Two: Fill the squeeze bottom with hot water and a tsp of salt. I recommend you label the bottles, so you know what you are working with. Shake your dye bottle and pour into the squeeze bottle, I used about ½ cup. It all depends on the color you want, so test it out on a paper towel and add more if you would like. Always better to start with a lighter color and add instead of going to dark and you can't take it back. 

Step Three: Soak all your rubber banded fabric and then wring them out before dying. Keep tied throughout. Put the fabrics into one large tub- or if you are using different color combos, separate the tubs by color. (Please do not judge our dead grass)

Step Four: Go to town with your dye. You can really go all out here and saturate the fabrics in the dye. You can even move around the rubber band to get into the center and such. These are really the only white items that I own, so I tried to keep them more white to color, but it is totally up to you! 

Step Five: Roll the fabrics around in the excess dye in the bin. It’s just fun! 

Step Six: Place your fabrics into plastic grocery store bags and tie. Leave them for a minimum of two hours (the less the time, the lighter the color). 

Step Seven: After 2 hours, untie/ cut off your rubber bands. The color may look different here, but it will fade when it gets washed. 

Step Eight: Rinse out all your fabrics until the water runs clear. I prefer to do this outside because I am fearful of staining the tub, so just use a hose! 

Step Nine: Wring out your fabrics and then wash and dry your fabrics as you normally would 

There you go! You will have clothes and fabrics that are just perfectly sprinkled with the greatest color ever. If green is really not your color you can always choose another color. RIT has so many color options it's amazing. You can do different shades of the whole rainbow, or you can even do neutral colors and grey tones. The world is really your oyster when it comes to tie dye, which makes this process so much more fun. 

I also decided to add some more dye at the end of the day, because I just wanted there to be more color. I just followed all these steps again and it came out exactly the way I wanted to.

If you make this please tag #StayingHomebody and #HomebodyMakes