Crimson Striped Tie Dye Top

To be honest, this was a total experiment. The results could truly have gone one way or the other, and as I was removing the rubber bands I was worried that I was about to experience disappointment. But as I continued to remove rubber bands, I realized just how much I was going to love it!

My original intention was to create a red and white stripe on the bottom and blue at the top for a patriotic play on two types of dying methods. But after sitting for six hours there had been quite a bit of seepage into the upper portion. So I'll admit, I was worried I would have to scrap this project and start over. And, as I removed rubber bands, I noticed that there wasn't any white where the rubber band had been. That tells me that my bands weren't tight enough.

But it all worked out in the end. I actually love the way that it turned out and plan to wear it quite a bit this summer!

If you would like to experiment with a similar method, here are the steps that I took.

Supplies needed:

Red dye from Luau One-Step Tie Dye Kit

White top

Red dye

Rubber bands (from kit)

Protective gloves (from kit)

Plastic wrap

Masking tape

Lay shirt on work surface and cover the upper portion with a sheet of plastic wrap.

Fold the top portion down toward you and lay plastic wrap on the back of the shirt as well.

Roll the upper portion of the shirt and encase it in more plastic wrap, closing the ends with masking tape.

Roll the bottom portion of the shirt up toward the top rolled portion.

When they are touching, begin rubber banding, first at the two wider ends, then wrap rubber bands every couple of inches around both portions of the shirt.

I wrapped my bands three times. Tighter wraps will results in more white in your stripes.

Turn on the faucet and run the bottom portion of the shirt under the water to dampen it. Squeeze out the excess water.

Cover your work surface with a plastic tablecloth and then with newspapers. Saturate the bottom portion of the shirt with red dye. Avoid the top portion, though as the shirt sits, there will be some seepage which is what creates the fun ombre effect!

Wrap the shirt in plastic wrap and allow to sit for six hours.

Remove the outer layer of plastic wrap. Rinse as much dye out as you can before removing rubber bands and remaining plastic wrap. Once you have removed those, rinse thoroughly then hand wash with a teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent. Rinse it well and wring out as much excess water as you can.

Dry your shirt in the dryer or hang it to dry.

I love the way it came out! This photo of me wearing it doesn’t do it justice because you can’t really see the ombre effect that accidentally happened with the small amount of seepage through the plastic wrap. You can see it better in the photo above.

I hope this project encourages you to get creative with dye. There’s no hard fast rule on how you have to do things, just play with it! Hope you have fun!

Project created by Amanda Formaro for I Love to Create. Amanda is a well-known craft expert and author of the  books "Rubber Band Mania" and "Duct Tape Mania", the first two in a series of craft books for kids. She has been writing and crafting on the Internet for over fifteen years. Find out more on her blog, Crafts by Amanda, where she shares tutorials with step-by-step photos for adults and kids alike.