Not Your Regular Tie-Dye Tutorial

We all have these old t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, or sweatpants lying around the house. They’re usually a bit faded, stained, or worn out, but you hold onto them because regardless of what they look like, they’re still the comfiest loungewear in a time where we’re all spending our days wearing it. So instead of just watching your comfiest sweats fade away, why not give them a new lease of life with some exciting new colours?

Tie-Dye may seem complicated, but there isn’t that much to it if you have all of the right materials. (And no, this isn't your childish rainbow tie-dye job, unless you want it to be.) Start with some pastel or muted colours, some bright and some dark, and you're already on the road to perfect loungewear. You’ll need:

· Trash Bag

· Rubber bands

· String

· Bucket of water

· Your dyes (I’d recommend two to three colours that go well together)

· Paint brushes

1. First, you’re going to want to start by lining your floor with the trash bag. This can get messy, and the less clean up you have to do, the better.

2. Secondly, you’re going to want to twist up little bunches of your fabric and tie them up with the rubber bands or strong, where you want your colours concentrated on. I’d recommend doing many bunches, making sure that they’re evenly spaced out throughout the item of clothing you’re using. There are also pattern guides that you can find online, if you’re looking for inspiration.

3. Once you’re happy with your tied up portions, scrunch up the entire item of clothing together until its tightly bound together, and tie it up with strings so it can be easily transported and the shape can be held.

4. Dunk the entire clothing “package” in water to get it damp enough to perfectly spread the dye. (Pro Tip: put a little bit of dye in the water so that the sweater has a nice base colour to it.) Drain off the excess water, making sure to keep the shape of the item of clothing intact.

5. Using paint brushes, dip them into your dye and paint it onto the item of clothing, concentrating the colour on the knots you made earlier. Go crazy with this, add multiple colours to one note, or just one! You can also use the brain brush to speckle the hoodie with other colours for a nice, paint splattered look. Do the same to the other side of clothing to ensure even coverage.

6. Slip the item of clothing into another trash bag and leave it there from anywhere for 4-6 hours, depending on your dye. After that, throw it in the wash to get off the excess dye, dry as normal, and voila! A new lease of life on your tried and true favourite comfy clothes!

All credit for the videos used goes to Rozanna Purcell and is intended for use under fair dealing only.