Due to popular demand from the E! News, Trend E! segment featuring SNOB Style's Erika Stanley; here are Erika's helpful Tips & Tricks to Tie Dying:

The Circle

The Spiral

The Heart

Tie Dye is HUGE this Summer. We are seeing all different colors, styles, and folds on Celebrities and Fashionistas. Typically when you go into stores or boutiques you might notice that Tie Dye garments and accessories can sometimes be pricy. This is because no two Tie Dyed items are alike. Each piece has to be hand tied and folded and a lot of hands on labor goes into every one. So yes, if you spend a bit more on a Tie Dye item it is worth it. But on the flip side, since Tie Dye is all done by hand you can.....SNOB It Yourself!

Now don’t get scared. It is not has hard as you think. The #1 Rule in SNOB Style’s: S.I.Y. Tie Dye is, THERE IS NO WRONG WAY TO TIE DYE. Even if you take a shirt and just put rubber bands all over it and put all different color dyes all over it, it will still turn out beautiful. But there are some techniques you can learn to get desired looks, and that is what I’m going to teach you today. Feel free to combine techniques on different items and play around with them.

These are the materials you will need:

Buckets (One for each color dye. I typically do 3 different colors)
Rubber Bands (I like to get a pack with all different sizes, but NOT colored)
Squeeze Bottles
Plastic Cups
Scissors
Spray Bottle
HOT Water
Dye (I like to use RIT Dye which can be found at any Craft Store)

Tie Dye:

*When setting up make sure you plan on doing this project outside or somewhere where you will have a lot of room and won’t mind making a little bit of a mess.

*The dye packages make a fair amount of dye so make sure you plan of dying a lot of items at once. Some great things to dye are Tank Tops, Wife Beaters, T-shirts, Scarves, Leggings, and Dresses. ALSO...think gifts! They make great gifts. Or you can even have a Tie Dye party with your friends. Or you can even get the kids involved.

*Make sure all the items you plan on Tie Dying are 100% Cotton. Many synthetic fabrics do not take to dye, so it best to use 100% Cotton. NOTE....Dye does shrink 100% Cotton garments so size UP when buying your items. Great places to buy things to dye at good prices are Target, K Mart, American Apparel, and if you live near a Fashion District there are tons of blank clothing and accessories at great prices.

*Before folding and rubber banding any items you always want to spray it with water from a spray bottle. When the item is lightly damp with water it helps you manipulate the item and get better ridges and folds.

*When you are banding your items make sure the rubber bands are tightly wrapped because this is where the dye is going to resist and so it needs to be tight.
Tips for doing the Heart...The bigger the heart the better it turns out, especially with trying it on your first time. When you draw the half heart along the centerfold make the point that is in the center of the heart exaggerated and very deep. Otherwise it will turn out looking like an oval. Keep the pleating small around the pencil line...and just take your time, and follow that pencil line you made. Then place the rubber band directly over the pencil line. Then wrap a second rubber band about 1 ½ inches out from the 1st one. The heart also turns out better on T-shirts than on Wife Beaters or ribbed clothing.

*With Tie Dying you will want to dye one item and look at it to see what it looks like, but unfortunately since the water needs to be HOT you really need to fold, knot, and rubber band ALL your items before you prepare the dye as well as dye the items. So tie them all up then start to prepare the dye and dye them.

*Preparing the dye is not hard. The most important thing is that you want the water to be HOT. The hotter the water the more “color” will deposit onto your items. I like to use the power dye. Typically the packages suggest 3 gallons of water per each package. I like to have really strong color so I personally use less than that. I have lowered the water as low as 2 gallons before. Put each color dye in a bucket and dissolve it just about one or two cups of hot water. Then add the rest of the water.

*When you start to dye the items I like to use squeeze bottles for the little hard to get places and areas that need specific color in smaller places. For example, the outline for the heart or on the spiral. And if you are doing the spiral, use the rubber bands that have sectioned the item into four sections as a guide of where you want the dye to go. When I am doing multiple colors on items I use the rubber bands as my guidelines, kinda like coloring. I also like to use plastic cups to pour the dye on the items as well.

*When dying the items you want to manipulate your item in the dye for at least 3-5 minutes so that it gets VERY saturated. Continuously dip in the dye, pour the dye on, or squeeze the dye on the garment in the desired area and then squeeze all the dye out and repeat...over and over and over. Don’t worry if the colors bleed or the if you want color to go to a specific area and it bleeds or goes over, it will be just fine; I promise.

*After your done squeezing out all the remaining dye, let it sit for 20minutes.

*After 20 minutes have passed, cut off the rubber bands and let it hang dry.

*Once it has dried you will want to preserve your color. Iron the item. The heat from the iron sets the color. RIT also makes a color preserver and if you choose to use that, do it after the item has dried and been ironed. Another tip is after ironing let the garment sit in VERY cold water with equal parts white vinegar to seal in the color.

*NOTE...you will not want to wash these items with your other laundry because some residual dye will come off. Always wash in cold and by themselves.

HAVE FUN!

SNOB Style wants to see what you Tie Dyed...Email your works of art to:
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