Supplies
- Cotton Tank Top
- Rit All-Purpose Dye: Aquamarine + Indigo
- Plastic Container for Dyeing
- Polyester Thread + Needle
- Dish Soap
- Salt
- Gloves
- Measuring Cups + Spoons
- Paper Towels
Time
Total: 1 hour
Difficulty
Intermediate
Instructions
- Gather supplies.
- Pre-wash fabric in warm, soapy water and dry.
- Using fabric chalk, draw design onto fabric as desired.
- Cut a long piece of thread and quadruple thread the needle, simply fold thread in half and thread into needle and knot off at the end.
- Sew a running stitch along each of the line you drew onto the fabric.
- Pull each stitch to gather the fabric and secure with a knot at the end and set aside.
- Dye Preparation: Shake dye bottle before pouring. Wearing rubber gloves, pour dye into the water. We used the Blu DeTiger Blue color recipe. Then measure 1 cup salt dissolved with 2 cups hot water; add to dye bath. (Salt helps to intensify the color.) Then add a squirt of dish washing liquid and stir well. Test color with a paper towel.
Blu DeTiger Blue1⁄4 Cup Aquamarine3⁄4 Teaspoon Indigo3 Gallons
- Immerse gathered fabric into the dyebath and stir occasionally for 10 minutes or until desired color is achieved.
- To help reduce color bleeding and improve color retention, treat fabric with Rit ColorStay Dye Fixative immediately after dyeing and before rinsing. Follow package instructions. Remove fabric from dye bath and squeeze out excess dye. Fill container 3 gallons hot water and add 4 tbsp of dye fixative; stir well. Immerse clothing item in fixative, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.
- Remove fabric and rinse in cold water until water begins to run clear.
- Carefully cut and remove running stitch from fabric.
- Then machine wash fabric with an old towel in warm water with mild detergent, rinse and dry. If desired, iron to remove excess wrinkles.
