To DYE for..

Well, today was slightly overcast and otherwise dull. So I figured it would be a good day to spice it up with some tie dye-ing. Its simple enough and load of psychedelic fun.

You don't need much, just:

• some random clothes (white fabric for best results)
• fabric dye (I used dylon)
  
• rubber bands or string
  
• squirt bottles or plastic cups (for when you want to use multiple colors to dye)
• garbage bags (to catch any dye mess you will make indoors)
• rubber gloves
• soda ash (also know as sodium carbonate. This is optional)
• plastic wrap
  

The comes the fun. Once you have on some clothes and shoes you don't mind getting messy, set up your workspace by laying down the garbage bags. Take your garments, which should be pre-washed. Fill a bowl or basin with water and if you desire add one cup of soda ash to every gallon of water and soak your garments for 15-60 minutes. You will want to use gloves from this point on. If you feel you have difficulty tying up your garment with gloves on, do it before you soak it.

For this batch I did a lot of spirals. These are easy to do once you get the hang of it.

• Simply lay the garment flat on the floor.
  
• Grab a fork and stick it where ever you want the center of the spiral to be.
  
• Then twirl the fork and the garment like you are twirling spaghetti.
  
• Do it slowly and be sure to press the garment together to keep it tight.
  
• Once it's all twirled up, place rubber bands around the garment to hold it tightly together.

Once your garment is all tied up its time to dye it up. Prepare all your dye according to the package directions. Make sure you follow them otherwise your dye wont be as bright! Squirt or pour the dye randomly or over certain sections, just make sure you thoroughly soak the garment!
Then let the dye set. Its best to wait at least 8 hours so you might choose to wrap up the garment in plastic wrap and leave it over night. (By wrapping it up you keep the dye from drying out)

Once the wait is over, rise the garment by hand in cold water until the water runs clear. Its also a good idea to run it through the washing machine in 2 or 3 hot washes and rinse cycles. You can wear the garments after this, but just in case you may choose to wash it separate from you other clothes for a while to make sure the dye doesn't bleed.
Remember to have fun with it! Try tying your garments different ways to get different patterns. Every time you rinse out your garments you will be in for a surprise.