Brooklyn-based artist Ruth Moskell, 31, says beginners shouldn’t fear rolling up their sleeves and try to DIY tie-dye. The at-home color aficionado — who teaches workshops at Artists & Fleas in Soho and sells her dyed wares on her Etsy shop, PeterPiperBK — suggests that newbie colorists try the traditional “spiral” design: a classic pattern that looks dramatic but is actually simple to master.
You’ll need a plain white 100-percent-cotton tee — polyester blends won’t absorb bright hues as easily as natural fabrics.
To prep the shirt, you’ll also need soda ash, a k a sodium carbonate, a sister to baking soda, which can be purchased at most craft stores (or on Amazon). Combine the ash with water, and soak the shirt according to the package directions, usually about 20 minutes. Wring it out, so it’s damp, not soaking wet, and it’s ready to go!
The soda-ash soak might seem like extra work, but Moskell says that skipping this step is a rookie mistake. “It helps the dye molecules permanently bond to the fibers,” she says.
Finally, you’ll want to have rubber bands, sturdy zip-close bags and a hefty dropcloth or tarp handy to keep your workspace clean.
1. Mix it up
Cover a table or flat surface to protect it from any rogue color. For mess-free application, Moskell suggests combining powdered dye — she likes the professional pigments from Dharma Trading Co. (fiber-reactive dye, from $1.95 for 2 oz.) — with water in plastic squirt bottles, according to the package directions. When choosing your colors, she recommends picking hues that will contrast, rather than blend; mixtures of red and green, yellow and purple, or blue and orange, for example, will bleed together and turn a murky brown.
2. Pinch and twirl
To make the swirl design, start out with your pre-soaked T-shirt lying flat on a covered surface. Pinch the very center of the tee with your dominant hand. Continuously turn the fabric clockwise, like you would a knob; cool circular folds should start to form. Keep twisting until the whole shirt is rounded into a tidy spiral.
3. Tie it tight
Reach for three rubber bands to help the twisted sphere keep its shape. Wrap them so the bands intersect in the center, dividing the shirt into six wedge-like triangles.
4. Drizzle away
Place your prepped tee in front of you on your workspace. Moskell likes using a baking sheet to catch the extra liquid, and puts her garment atop a plastic rack — hers is a repurposed perforated drawer organizer — for more precise application and less mess.
While wearing rubber gloves, squirt dye directly onto the fabric in thirds, so that each color takes up two of the six wedges. For consistently gorgeous color, Moskell says it’s important to be thorough: Don’t forget to apply dye to both sides of the shirt, and work it into the folds of the spiral as well.
5. Soak it in
To make sure the color sufficiently sets, put the shirt in a zip-close bag, and let it sit for at least four hours. Letting it rest overnight is even better.
6. Rinse and release
Moskell says it takes three hearty rinses (make sure to wear rubber gloves!) to get the dye out. Without removing the rubber bands, run the shirt under cold water until the runoff is clear. Repeat with warm water, and then a third time with hot. At last, you can remove the bands, and undo the spiral to admire your creation. Before you wear it, do one hot-water wash in a machine — separate from any stainable clothing. Pop it in the dryer to further lock in color.