Cool Tie Dye Patterns To Try

Tie Dye Patterns. Learn how to make beautiful, custom tie dye patterns with these easy tie dye patterns and folding techniques with step-by-step instructions, photos and video tutorials for every design. You will learn how to make the most popular tie-dye designs.

Tie dye is all the rage this summer and it is such a great activity! A tie-dye shirt is just so fun to wear! Today I’m going to show you eight of my favorite tie dye patterns and how to fold them.

This article is stuffed full of helpful information about tie dye. If you’re looking for something specific, here’s an overview of every section. Just click on the title or tie dye pattern you’re interested in to skip directly to the information you need.

Where’s The Best Place to Buy A Tie Dye Kit?

Hobby Lobby has a huge selection of tie dye related goodies, but you can also find tie dye at Walmart, Michaels and Amazon.

They have every dye kit you could ever want and their shirts are a total bargain so it is a one-stop-shop. Hobby Lobby has all sizes of cotton t-shirts in stock, including baby, toddler and children’s sizes all the way up to adult plus sizes. They also have long-sleeved tees, baseball tees and solid white sweatshirts.

Which Tie Dye Kit Should I Buy?

There are two factors to consider when deciding which tie dye kit you should buy: how many shirts you will be dying and the colors that you would like to use.

Every package of tie dye will give you an estimated number of shirts that can be dyed with the amount of dye included. Once the dye powder has been mixed with water, it has to be used within 72 hours, so don’t buy a kit that is bigger than you need because you can’t really save it for later. Also, I have found that I can never make quite as many shirts as the package says. I would say 2/3 is a good rule of thumb… if the package says 36, you can probably get 24 shirts out of it.

Then the only thing you need to decide is which colors you want to use. The package I picked had the whole rainbow of colors because, well, I am me. LOL. Give me all the rainbows! They also sell single color kits in larger amounts if you want to dye a bunch of shirts the same color (like for a dance team, etc.)

What Supplies Do I Need To Tie Dye?

Most tie dye kits come with everything you need minus the actual shirt, but here is a list with a few extras that are helpful.

Supplies Needed

• Cotton T-Shirt
• Tie Dye Kit
  • Dye Bottles
  • Rubber Bands
  • Rubber/Plastic Gloves
  • Plastic Drop Cloth
• Water
• Spray Bottle (in case parts of the shirt start to dry out)
• Paper Towels and/or Baby Wipes (for cleaning up drips)
• Wire Rack (keeps the project away from dye puddles)
• Gallon Sized Zip Plastic Bags (to put the shirt in while the dye sets)

Tie Dye Patterns

Let me show you how to tie some of the most popular tie-dye patterns, including the classic swirl pattern, ombre, tiger stripes, shibori-inspired designs, and more. These are the tie dye patterns I’ll show you how to fold:

1. Rainbow Tie Dye Pattern
2. V Tie Dye Pattern
3. Shibori Tie Dye
4. Ombre Tie Dye Pattern
5. Swirl Tie Dye Pattern
6. Stripes Tie Dye Pattern
7. Mandala Tie Dye Pattern
8. Heart Tie Dye Pattern

The easiest way to learn these techniques is to watch the video. Every pattern is shown in the same order in greater detail.

VIDEO TUTORIAL

Rainbow Tie Dye Design

Step 1: Lay a damp shirt flat on a plastic drop cloth.
Step 2: Draw a rainbow shape on the bottom of the shirt, then draw a second line that parallels the first.
Step 3: Pleat the shirt along the first line, turning the curved line into a straight line. Secure with a rubber band.
Step 4: Repeat with the second line.
Step 5: Add dye. In this case, I wanted to keep the majority of my shirt white, so I had to be extra careful while applying the dye. Using the cooling rack really helped. Excess dye dripped down and under the cooling rack instead of getting onto the shirt where I didn’t want it to.

V Tie Dye Design

Step 1: Fold a damp shirt in half with the front of the shirt facing outwards.
Step 2: Use a washable marker and a ruler to draw two perpendicular straight lines across the shirt, even onto the sleeves.
Step 3: Gather the fabric along the first line, keeping the line straight as you bunch. Place a rubber band on the line, then double check that everything stayed straight. The line should be under the rubber band. Repeat for the second line.
Step 4: Add more rubber bands on both sides of the two lines, until the entire shirt is bunched and banded.
Step 5: Add dye to the shirt in any way you’d like. I added a different color to each banded section in rainbow order. Just make sure the colors next to each other mix together well. (Complimentary colors turn brown when mixed together so it’s better to put colors together that are next to each other on the color wheel.)

Shibori Tie Dye Design

Step 1: Fold a damp shirt in half lengthwise, then in half again to make a long skinny rectangle.
Step 2: Accordion fold triangle shapes all the way up the fabric. Secure with rubber bands.
Step 3: Add dye only to the three outside edges of the triangle, but make sure the dye soaks into all the nooks and crannies.

Ombre Tie Dye Design

Step 1: Lay a damp shirt out flat on a plastic drop cloth.
Step 2: Squeeze a generous amount of dye onto the bottom edge of the shirt, then use a foam brush to gently push the dye upwards until it fades out.

Swirl Tie Dye Design

Step 1: Flatten out a damp cotton shirt.
Step 2: Pinch the center of the shirt (or where you want the center of the spiral to be), then start to swirl both layers of the fabric around the center point until the whole shirt forms a circle shape.
Step 3: Place rubber bands across the circle to hold the folds together. Each band should meet in the center.
Step 4: Add dye to each wedge shape of the circle. Be sure to get deep into the folds. The more dye you use, the less white space your finished design will have.

Stripes Tie Dye Design

This is a great tie-dye shirt for beginners and kids. You can fold it one way for horizontal stripes, the other way for vertical stripes and you can also fold it on the diagonal to get diagonal stripes.

Step 1: Lay a damp shirt out flat on a plastic drop cloth.
Step 2: Begin accordion folding lengthwise across the shirt.
Step 3: Add rubber bands to hold the folds in place.
Step 4: Add dye to each section between bands.

Here’s an example of the same folding pattern and the same colors, but the first one I totally saturated with dye and the second one I only used a little bit of dye. I actually like both looks, but I thought it was a good illustration of how the finished look can change depending on how much dye is applied.

Mandala Tie Dye Design

Step 1: Fold a damp shirt in half lengthwise, then in half again crosswise to make a square with four layers.

Step 2: Peel back one layer and fold it into triangle thirds.

Step 3: Repeat again with the second layer.

Step 4: Flip the shirt over and fold the other two layers into triangle thirds also.

Step 5: Carefully keep all of the layers in line as you add rubber bands down the whole shirt.

Step 6: Add dye… and lots of it! Be sure to get dye deep down into the inner layers. You can see in the example shirt that some areas remained white and the cool pattern that’s in the bottom right hand area of the shirt didn’t seep through all the layers. Oops!

Heart Tie Dye Design

Step 1: Fold a damp cotton shirt in half straight down the middle.
Step 2: Draw half of a heart shape along the fold line using a washable marker.
Step 3: Begin pinch pleating along the line. You will basically be turning the curved heart shape that you drew into a straight line.
Step 4: Place a rubber band over the drawn line to keep it in place.
Step 5: Add more rubber bands down the remaining length of the shirt.
Step 6: Add dye between bands.

Note: This technique can be used to make any shape in tie dye. Just draw the shape onto the t-shirt and fold it with the same method.

Final Steps of Tie Dye

Once the dye is added to your shirt in the design of your choosing, these are the next steps to follow:

1. Place dyed shirt in a zippered plastic bag and seal it up tight.
2. Let the dye set for at least 8 hours or up to 48 hours. The longer the dye sets, the more vivid the colors will be.
3. Remove the shirt from the plastic and rinse out the excess dye with cold water. This can be done in a stainless steel sink or outside with the hose. I recommend wearing gloves again for this step. Be careful not to get dye on anything.
4. Wash the shirt alone in the washing machine and dry alone in the dryer on high heat.
5. Now your shirt is ready to wear, but you will still need to wash it separately the first two or three times to prevent dye bleeding onto other clothing items. Better safe than sorry!

There are so many different tie-dye techniques to try.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I Need to Soak My Shirt In Soda Ash? Most of the store-bought dyes they have these days don’t require this step, but read the label on the dye packaging to know for sure.
• Can I Dye A Sweatshirt? Yes! Just make sure it’s a sweatshirt made of natural fibers (cotton). Because the fabric is so thick, it takes a ton of dye, so you’ll need to buy way more dye than you would for t-shirts.
• Any Tips for Tie Dying with Kids? Tulip Dye is the easiest to use with children. It comes in the squeeze bottles and all you have to do is add water. If you are tie dying with kids, beware the mess! Tie dye outside if at all possible and wear plastic gloves and grubby clothes. I would keep a ratio of only three or four kids per adult.
• What Dye is Best for Advanced Crafters? If you want to up your game and get serious about tie dye, try using fiber reactive dye, also called Procion MX Dye. This type of dye gives more vivid colors, lasts longer in the wash, and is easy to use. It works best on cotton and linen fabric.

Printable Tie Dye Pattern Instructions

If you are tie dying with a big group, it’s helpful to print out the instructions so people can see what to do and get ideas for how they want their shirts to look. These PDF printable instructions show photos of each step and include written directions too. I laminated mine so I can use them over and over. Download them right here:

If you’re looking for a few other fun tie dye techniques, check out how to tie dye with Sharpies and how to tie dye with bleach!

Here’s to making this summer a tie dye summer. Happy crafting!