What are five ways to make cool tie-dye designs?


Quick Answer

Five ways to make cool tie-dye designs include using techniques such as stripes, a center circle, many small circles, a sunburst and a spiral. It does not matter how many times the same technique is used because each method always results in a slightly different design.

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Full Answer

To use the stripes technique, gather a shirt into a tube-like shape, and secure it with rubber bands along the length of the tube. The number of white stripes included in the design depends on the number of rubber bands that are used; using more rubber bands results in more white stripes. Twist the shirt before securing it to create white wrinkles in the design, as well.

To use the center circle technique, lay the shirt flat, and pinch a section in the middle of the shirt. Pull the section up to form a tepee shape. A larger tepee creates a larger circle. Place one hand around the bottom of the tepee shape, and secure it with a rubber band. Twist the fabric that has been sectioned off, and add rubber bands down the length of the section. Adding more rubber bands creates more circles.

The many small circles technique is a variation of the center circle technique. Pinch the fabric up until it is approximately 2 to 3 inches high, and place a large marble or Styrofoam ball inside the fabric. Tie the section off using a thick rubber band or string to keep the marble or ball secure.

The sunburst technique uses the many small circles technique to create the design. Tie the marble inside the shirt in the same way, and tie off a 1/2-inch section behind the rubber band. Tie off two more sections behind the last rubber band that are both approximately a pinky-width apart. Tie another section behind the last rubber band that is a finger-width long, and tie off a section that is two finger-widths at the end.

To use the spiral technique, pinch up a section in the middle of the shirt, and twist it until a spiral is formed. Lay the spiral section down on the shirt, and curl the rest of the shirt around it to form a tight nest. Secure the entire shirt with two large rubber bands to prevent it from unraveling.

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