How to Make a Peace Sign Tie Dye Shirt
Peace sign tie-dye shirts are a must when attending a Grateful Dead concert, Pride parade or arts festival. The bright, swirled colors hearken back to the days of love beads, flowers tucked into soldier's rifles, and sliding nude in the mud from a week-long outdoor concert in a farmer's field. Yeah, that one. Channel your inner flower child by listening to Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, or Janis Joplin while dipping those plain white tees into a liquid rainbow.
Things You'll Need
- White t-shirts
- Rubber bands
- Paraffin candle
- Vinegar
- Blue, green, red, yellow and orange dye
- Large, plastic basin of boiling water
- Large, plastic basin of cold water
- Compass
- Ruler or yardstick
- Washing soda
- Paper towels
- Iron
- Plastic bottle with a pull-open sip top
- Large sheet of poster board
- Scissors
Instructions
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Wash the t-shirts in warm water and washing soda. Run them through two rinse cycles. Dry the t-shirts on a clothesline or in the dryer. Do not use any softeners, as this will make it difficult to dye the shirt.
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2
Iron the t-shirt smooth if needed. Lay out a circle whose diameter is just slightly smaller than the side-to-side width of the t-shirt. Use a compass to mark the intersections of the legs of the triangle with the circle by making three arcs which pass through the center point to cross the circle. Use a ruler to connect the three points from the center of the circle to the outer edge.
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Brush melted paraffin wax along the outline of the circle and the peace sign. Be careful to make the edges of the outline Neat and crisp. Allow wax to harden. Make a large bunch which includes all of the peace sign and circle. Secure it with rubber bands. Twist the shirt as desired and secure with rubber bands as well.
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4
Fill the large, plastic basin with boiling water. Add two packages of the color you want for your background. Add 1 cup vinegar. Dip the shirt into the dye and allow it to soak for five to ten minutes. Remove and hang the t-shirt to dye. Repeat for additional background colors as desired, working from lightest to darkest. When possible, boil the previous vat of dye and mix it with the next desired color to make green, orange or purple. If you begin with yellow, add blue or red next. Add red to blue for purple. Add additional red to purple for fuchsia. Add yellow to green to make spring green and chartreuse. Use less dye for pastel colors.
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5
Hang the t-shirt to dry between colors. Lay several layers of paper towel over the peace sign and iron until all the wax is absorbed into the towel. Repeat twice to be sure to remove as much wax as possible, replacing the paper towels each time. Cut a circle the same diameter as your peace symbol, from a sheet of poster board. This will help protect your t-shirt from spillover during this step. Fill a plastic drink bottle with a pull-open top with your chosen dye color, to outline your peace symbol. Drip dye all the way around the symbol, in an even width. Remove the poster board drip guard. Hang t-shirt to dry.
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