How to Tie-Dye a Heart Shape
Once you've tie-dyed patterns of circles and stripes, it's hard to resist the urge to try other shapes. As you have already learned, part of the fun of tie-dye is learning to think backward as well as forward--you plan both what will be colored and what will not. The following steps add a couple of new techniques to expand your repertoire of tie-dye techniques by making a heart shape.
Things You'll Need
- Fabric
- Pencil or sewing chalk, if needed
- Needle and thread in color that contrasts with fabric color
- Rubber bands
- Single color of dye (for starters--expand as you learn more)
- Dye container (ceramic or stainless steel)
- Tongs or spoon
Instructions
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1
Sketch a heart shape lightly in pencil or chalk. This removes the surprise element from your tie-dye project but gives you control over the shape and its placement.
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2
Trace the shape in thread, using large basting stitches. You don't need to sew well. The purpose of the stitches is to make it easy to place rubber bands, and you'll pull out the basting when you're done. Black thread on white fabric or whatever you can see easily as you place rubber bands is all you need.
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3
Use rubber bands for your first try, even if you customarily tie your projects with string. When trying to make a fairly exact shape, rubber bands let you maneuver ties and fabric more easily. If you're a dyed-in-the-wool string fan, pull your basting thread to gather fabric into the heart shape before tying. This leaves both hands free for string.
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4
Lower your project into dye container with tongs. Dye and rinse as usual. Cut or pull off rubber bands to reveal your heart shape. Pull out basting thread, and you're done.
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Tips & Warnings
This basic technique works with diamonds, hearts within hearts and even flowers. As a general rule, the more complex the shape, the smaller the basting stitches. If you are covering a piece of fabric with lots of small shapes, use the baste-and-gather technique to improve your control of final results.
Practice really does make perfect. Work out your techniques with new shapes on scrap fabric to avoid creating havoc on something you really hoped to wear.
