Lately Sawyer has been asking to tie dye another shirt (he’s done two previously), but I’ve been really hesitant because of the time and mess committment involved. These days it seems like every time we’re knee-deep in something super messy and complicated Simon decides to wake up from his nap after only 30 minutes. When I finally picked up some plain white t-shirts at Joann’s earlier this week it suddenly occurred to me that I had seen “tie-dye” with Sharpie markers done once in a long-forgotten blog post from last Summer. A quick internet search of the topic led me to Butterfly Jungle where they had made Sharpie tie dyed fireworks shirts for the 4th of July. Sounds perfect!
All you need are some permanent markers (we found that permanent markers from the Dollar Tree and Bic brand permanent markers worked a bit better than actual Sharpies), fabric/shirt and rubbing alcohol. We put a piece of cardboard inside of our shirts to prevent bleed through and then started by drawing a circular pattern of dots about the size of a quarter.
Using an eyedropper we dropped a bit of rubbing alcohol on to the center of our design and watched it spread out to create our “fireworks.”
The design will spread a bit slowly at first, but will eventually fan out as far as the alcohol has spread.
This one is mine 🙂 I’m going to do some alterations to make the cut a bit more feminine before I rock this bad boy at the fireworks display show. After the alcohol has dried completely, be sure to iron your shirt to heat set the marker.
Sawyer added some circular fireworks and then decided to add some “fire bombs and sparklers” and stuff to it too. The Sharpie brand red marker ended up bleeding out a little more pink than he was expecting, but he still thinks his shirt is super cool.
Showing off his new fireworks shirt…okay, okay so they could be mistaken for flowers too, possibly…
…just don’t tell him that!
This activity was a ton of fun, and it required minimal mess, direction or intervention on my part. Now that we know how easy it was and how well it worked, we’re going to pick up a few more white shirts and attempt a more traditional looking tie dye pattern next time!
Heidi Kundin has captivated the hearts of millions with her colorful and inspiring approach to crafting, celebrations, and family fun. With over 15 years of experience, Happiness is Homemade has become a must-visit destination for those seeking quick and easy creative ideas and last-minute solutions. Heidi’s warm personality shines through her posts, inviting readers to join her on a creative journey that’s fun, rewarding, and achievable. Heidi is also the author of Homemade Bath Bombs & More and DIY Tie-Dye.
We had wonderful time doing that, only after the first washing the pictures disapeared (we ironed it before), any ideas how to make it more durable?
I like this concept of tie dye shirts
. Its a nice gift for young child.
This is really good design with tie dye kid’s apparel.Good job with good attempt.thank you.
I tye dye a lot and always soak my items in soda ash first it may work w/sharpies to help set the color
How do you keep the colors from fading?
I’m nervous to put a hot iron on the alcohol rich shirt. Fire? Has anyone had a bad experience with this?
Someone mentioned soaking in salt water overnight, before washing with water only, then to dryer. Has anyone tried this?? Ty!!
First of all, rubbing alcohol evaporates and will not catch fire.
For colorfastness, I was always taught salt OR vinegar would do the trick, but read on another site.
I found this site where this lady dyes her own fabrics to be used in quilt making and she has done her own her testing on her process of making her fabrics colorfast. I hope this will help.
http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_trips_in_fiber/2011/08/color-fastness-of-hand-dyed-fabrics.html
I meant to say that I read on another site that neither vinegar or salt help set dye.
Thanks for the link, Andrea! Hopefully that will help some of the people who have had questions. I appreciate it! 🙂
Does anyone know if vinegar works well for this?
Oh my gosh this would be a wonderful family activity with the grand kids I can’t wait to try it!!!Thanks for the totally awesome idea.
I tried making pillowcases with my kids using the same idea. I heat set it with a iron, I even ran it trough a hot cycle in the dryer before I washed it for the first time and my colors still faded quite badly. It really only looks like an inside ring and an outside ring. Any ideas on what I could have done differently? I know you said sharpies didnt work to well for you but that was all I had, and they worked fine to make them they just didnt last when washed.
We made these and both times the sharpie washed out accept for the beginning dots. Both times I heat set the color using the dryer.. didn’t work! Will try the iron next time.
As a sidenote, does it ruin the markers, or are they still useable????
My daughter is always wanting to decorate shirts, she will love this!!! Thanks!
wow i really love this, im gonna do this project with my boys! thanks
xoxo
Please give us some tips on how you did the alterations to make your shirt more feminine?
Excellent will give it a crack at Kinder. I’m in Australia and absolutely love your site. Does anything else other than Alcohol work. Thx Wendy
Wow, these turned out great! Must add this to my summer bucket list!
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Gorgeous shirt! Beautiful job!
Wow! I’ve never seen this before but I love this idea. Thanks for linking up with Fun for Kids Friday & Have a great weekend!
That is so cool and seems much easier than doing actual tie dye. Awesome. And Tie dye is in style right now too. Double awesome. I am excited to be following your blog now.
love it!
AWESOME!!!!