52 Week Challenge: #23 DIY Tie-Dye Shirt

Here's my second adventure in Tie-Dying.  I'm really happy with how my shirt came out. I just love using this dying technique, it's so exciting because you never know how it's going to come out. This was my first attempt. So far I've been pleasantly surprised. Here's what you'll need to make your own:

>>>A t-shirt made of %100 percent natural fibers, this can be cotton, linen, silk, rayon, bamboo, etc. I thrifted mine.

>>>Salt, I used about 1/2 cup for this shirt.

>>>Powdered or liquid dye. I used half a packet of Rit dye that I had left over from my last project.

>>>Rubber bands. You can also use string or twine if you have it laying around.

With my scarf, I created stripes, so this time I wanted to make a sunburst design, so I pinched the middle of the shirt and tied a rubber band. This will be the center of your design.

Continue to secure rubber bands along the shirt, until the last one is wrapped around the sleeves and the bottom hem of the shirt.

Prepare your dye bath according to instructions. I diluted my dye with about 2 cups of very warm water.

Bring a large pot of water and the salt to simmer, then add the dye and stir. Carefully drop your shirt into the bath. Even though the Rit instructions say that you can leave your garment in the bath for up to 20-50 min, I was worried that leaving it in there for too long, would let the dye seep through the rubber bands, making the shirt solid. So, I just let it simmer for about 10 minutes while stirring.

Remove the shirt from the bath and immediately run it under cold water to set the dye. Cut the rubber bands, and rinse until the water runs clear. Then hang it out to dry.

Here's how it came out, what do you think?

I am absolutely in love with tie-dying now. I'm so looking forward to finding some new colors, tackling new patterns, and sharing them all with you!  

Happy crafting!