Tying up the Heart Shape
Soak the shirt in cold water and wring it out. Take a clean, white T-shirt and hold it under a stream of cool running water. Drench the fabric completely before wringing it out. Check that the shirt is damp, but make sure that it’s not dripping wet. The damp shirt is better at absorbing the dye. You can also dye long-sleeve shirts and tank tops! Make sure that the fabric is white or light grey initially, so the dye will be visible.
Prepare the table or other dyeing surface with plastic bags. If you’re dyeing your shirt in your kitchen or another clean area, place plastic bags or trash liners down on the surface. Since tie dyeing can get very messy, you don’t want any excess dye getting on your furniture. If you don’t care about your surfaces getting stained, feel free to disregard this.
Place the shirt on a flat surface to get rid of any wrinkles. Take the soaked shirt and lay it on a table, countertop, or another dyeing surface. Use both hands to flatten out any wrinkles in the material. Press along both sleeves and the base of the shirt until all of the fabric is relatively wrinkle-free. If you have a lot of wrinkles in your shirt, they might affect the color placement when you go to add the dye later on.
Fold the shirt in half lengthwise with the sleeves touching. Bring both sleeves of the shirt together, and fold the shirt in the same way that you’d fold a vertical greeting card. Take another moment to check for wrinkles, and make sure that both sides of the shirt are even. If you’re folding a tank top or long sleeve shirt, try to match up the sleeves as best you can.
Sketch a half-heart in the center of the shirt with a washable marker. Take a magic marker and draw half of a heart along the folded seam of the shirt. Try to make the outline as curved and defined as possible, so the shape can't be mistaken for something else later on. If you aren’t comfortable with your drawing skills, sketch the heart a slower pace. As the name suggests, the washable marker will come off once you put the shirt in the washing machine.Warning: Don’t use a Sharpie or dry erase marker for this, as the ink won’t wash out of the shirt later on.
Scrunch the fabric around the outline to separate the heart from the rest of the shirt. Use both hands to fold the damp fabric accordion-style, condensing the shirt around the half-heart outline. Continue scrunching the fabric, moving slowly and carefully to keep the shape intact. Check that the marker line is straight after scrunching the shirt. If the line is squiggly, there’s a good chance that your heart outline won’t come out very clearly. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t fold the fabric correctly on your first try. Feel free to start the folding and scrunching process over at any time.
Pull a rubber band over the line of marker to separate the heart. Find the magic marker line, which now resembles a straight line after the scrunching and folding process. Stretch a rubber band and pull it over the shirt, then secure the band over this visible line of washable marker. Stretch out a rubber band and pull it over the rounded and condensed ball at the end of the T-shirt. Pull the rubber band lower, pausing over the magic marker line. If your rubber band is especially big, feel free to wrap it around the shirt twice. You can also use string to tie off the heart section.
Section off other portions of the shirt using rubber bands. Take additional rubber bands and stretch them around the fabric, bunching them around the lower sections of the shirt. Arrange the rubber bands in vertical, diagonal, and horizontal lines to create a fun series of patterns around your dyed heart! Create a stripe effect by tying the rubber bands horizontally along the length of the shirt.
Adding the Dye
Prepare dye in your desired colors. Put on plastic or rubber gloves to protect your skin from the dye. Check the instructions on your fabric dye container to see how much product needs to be mixed with water for different size bottles. Keep in mind that the ratio is about 2 - 4 tsp (10-20 g) to 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water. Be sure that you have all the dye colors that you need for your heart design. Use a craft store tie-dye kit if you’d prefer not to mix the dyes yourself. Use a plastic container or bucket to prepare the dye if you’re planning on making a large amount.
Put the dye into plastic bottles with thin spouts. Pour the dye into a variety of plastic bottles. Those used for ketchup and other condiments work well for this. Make sure to keep the colors separated as you pour them into individual bottles. Once all of the bottles are filled, label them with masking tape—sometimes, the actual color is different than the dye’s apparent color in the bottle. For instance, hot pink dye is a lot darker in the bottle than it is on the fabric. Feel to use both large and small bottles for the dye.
Go over the marker line with a squirt of dye on both sides of the shirt. Take a bottle of dye in your desired color and squeeze it along the rubber band. Flip over the shirt to dye the marker line on the other side of the garment. Be sure to cover the sides of the rubber band with dye as well. You can purchase dye and other tie-dye supplies at your local craft store. Adding this line of dye helps to separate the color of the heart from the color you’re using for the rest of the shirt.Tip: If you’re going for a traditional heart design, consider using red or fuchsia for this portion.
Squeeze dye all over the tied-off heart section. Take the same dye bottle and saturate the tied-off section of shirt with product. Continue soaking all of the fabric bunches and wrinkles before turning the shirt over. Pour the same amount of dye over the back and sides of the shirt until the banded section is completely drenched in dye. The more dye you apply, the stronger and less spotted your design will be. If you’d prefer to have a speckled shirt with more white in the background, use less dye during this part of the process. Ideally, aim for the fabric to be almost dripping wet with dye.
Add different dye colors to the other tied-off shirt sections. Take a new color of dye and squirt it over an additional section of the shirt. Continue saturating the fabric, flipping the shirt over as needed to soak the other side. If you’re only using 1 additional color, soak the rest of your shirt with this color of dye. If you’re adding multiple colors to your shirt, continue soaking both sides of the shirt with dye until you’ve created your design of choice.
Washing and Drying the Dyed Fabric
Wrap the dyed shirt in a plastic bag. Take a disposable plastic grocery bag and place your drenched T-shirt inside. Roll the bag up tightly to seal it, setting it to the side for the time being. The bag prevents excess dye from splattering around the rest of your home. The plastic in the bag won’t absorb the dye, which makes it a great vessel for your dyed shirt.
Wait at least 8 hours for the dye to soak into the fabric. Leave the bag in a cool, dry spot so the dye can fully absorb without evaporating. Keep track of when and where you stored your shirt, so you can know when to remove it and rinse it out later on.Tip: For bolder colors, let the shirt soak for 24 hours.
Rinse the still-tied shirt under cool running water. After at least 8 hours, remove the dyed shirt from the bag and place it under a stream of running water. Let the majority of the excess dye flow out, so it doesn’t end up dripping all over your floor. Keep the rubber bands around the shirt while you do this. Make sure the water is cool, as extremely hot water can cause dyes to set in fabric.
Take off the rubber bands tied around your shirt. While the shirt is still under running water, pry away the rubber bands from the shirt. Take a moment to unroll your shirt and see how the heart design turned out. Don’t be discouraged if the shape doesn’t look quite like a heart. Tie-dyeing a heart can be a difficult skill to master. You can turn the running water off while you’re examining the shirt.
Wring out your shirt under running water until the dripping water is clear. Turn the water back on to a cool setting and hold the shirt in both hands. Use a twisting motion to wring out the fabric beneath the faucet. Keep an eye on the water that drips out from beneath shirt—once it’s clear and no longer showing any signs of dye, you can turn the water off. Make sure that all excess water is squeezed out of the shirt. You only want the fabric to be damp to the touch.
Wash the shirt alone in cold water with a small amount of detergent. Set the T-shirt alone in your washing machine so the dye doesn’t stain any of your other clothing. Pour a 1 teaspoon (4.9 mL) or so of detergent into the machine, then start a normal cycle. Be sure to use cold water, so the rest of the dye can rinse out. The washer will also remove any residual magic marker sketches on the fabric.
Hang your shirt up and let it air-dry for 1 day. Remove your damp shirt from the washer and hang it up in an open area. Check that the place is well-ventilated and that all of the fabric is able to dry evenly. Wait 1 day or so for the shirt to dry completely, touching the fabric periodically to check.
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