TIE-DYE T-SHIRT

"Try the tie-dye technique with ice cubes for a fresh and stylish T-shirt that's perfect for summer!"

Materials :

SETACOLOR TIE & DYE KIT
A white cotton T-shirt
A rack and a tray (or a deep bowl) to place under the rack which will collect the water from the melted ice cubes
Ice cube trays
Three glass jars for preparing the coloured water
A glass bottle (or plastic filled with water to weigh it down)
Protective gloves and a plastic sheet to protect your work surface

Difficulty level :

Medium
Preparation the day before: 1 hour / ice cubes overnight
Instructions: 1 hour + time for the ice to melt + drying time (at least 12 hours)

The day before:

Wash your T-shirt to remove any treatment and leave it to dry.
Prepare your ice cubes in the trays (3 or 4 depending on the size of the T-shirt) and leave them to freeze overnight.

The next day:

Protect your work surface with a plastic sheet and put on your gloves.
Prepare the Sétacolor Tie & Dye colours in the small glass jars using the pipettes that come with the kit.
For the deep blue: Gitane Blue, very slightly diluted
For the blue-purple: half water/half Azure dye + a few drops of Raspberry
For the mint green: half water/half dye with equal parts Cyan + Primary Yellow.
Mix well.
The more you dilute the colours, the paler they will be and the stronger the 'watercolour' effect. On the other hand, if you are looking for a dense finish, dilute the dyes a little less.

Place the rack on top of the tray. Drape the top part of the T-shirt over the bottle using a rubber band and place the bottle on the rack. Crumple the bottom of the T-shirt with your hands and lay it on the rack.
The dye will permeate the entire T-shirt, so by placing the top against the flow of the water, the dye will be less dense as it moves upwards.
Cover the bottom of the t-shirt with ice cubes and let them melt for a few minutes to soak the T-shirt with water.

Then, using the pipettes, drop the coloured water over the ice cubes: first Gitane Blue at the very bottom, then the blue-purple and finally the mint green.

While the ice cubes are melting, if you find that the colour is not dense enough, you can pour more dye with the pipettes, continuing to pour it over the ice cubes.

When all the ice has melted, remove the rack and tray with the melted water and lay the T-shirt flat on the plastic sheet to dry.
Be careful: Don't leave it to dry on a drying rack, as the lines will mark your designs. Lay the T-shirt flat on the plastic sheets (a towel would absorb the dye).
Once it has dried, use an iron it to set the dye: 5 minutes with the iron on the cotton setting

Be careful as excess dye may run during the first wash. Hand wash with like colours or separately.

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