Tie-dye is pretty forgiving in the sense that most of the designs end up looking OK once they are unveiled. However, there are a few things to keep in mind
- The dye will bleed, so pick colors that complement each other if they are combined.
- Some white space is a good thing because it helps give the design some demension, but you don't want the shirt to look too plain either
- Keep designs simple when you first start out. Some of the more complex designs can be done only with the help of other chemicals that you most likely do not have access to.
- Wrap the rubber bands tightly because they are what give the design it's form
- Try different variations on designs. Either wrap the rubber bands slightly differently or apply the dye in different spaces. You could also try to combine a couple of designs or simply create your own
These are the three designs I focused on for this project. I think they worked well because they were fairly simple to execute, but allowed for creative variations.
- Swirl This creates an all-over swirl on the T-shirt. It is probably one of the more recognizeable and traditional forms of tie-dye, and luckily it is very simple to achieve.
- Marbled A marbled T-shirt is one of the most abstract tie-dye designs, but it lends itself to using many colors because there are plenty of layers that the dye can reach without bleeding together.
- Circles The circle design has a few possibilities because the shirt can be dyed different colors all over, or the circles can be dyed individually to make them stand out a little more.