“4TH OF JULY TIE-DYE T-SHIRT”

Brought to you by Great Kills Day Treatment

With the 4th of July coming up, most everyone celebrates the birthday of our country by having a picnic, attending a barbeque, or going to a parade. To help you “dress” for whatever celebration you choose, this activity involves wearing our country’s colors—red, white, and blue. Using a plain white t-shirt, some fabric dye and a little artistic ability, you can make a patriotic “tie-dyed” shirt. Tie-dying is an activity that you can do alone or with family/friends, and involves “tying-off” sections of the fabric with rubber bands to create a print on the fabric.

Before you start this project, read through the entire activity and be certain to get the help you need. Check the list of supplies needed to make sure you have everything. Have Fun!

Supplies and Items Needed:

Step 1: Check around your house to see if you have everything needed for the project. If you need any of the items you can go to the local craft store, or grocery store. Ask a family member or a friend to take you to the store to get the items you need. The shirt can be any size you want, just be sure it fits.

Step 2: Fill your bucket with hot water, add the blue dye until you get a pretty, pale shade. Then take the T-shirt and lay it on your work area. Place the measuring tape on the shirt and measure from the bottom hem of the shirt up to about 3 or 4 inches. This is where the color line will end. (This can be from 1-4 inches, it is your shirt so it is your choice how much of the shirt you would like to be blue). Then place a rubber band around that section of your shirt.

Step 3: Put on your rubber gloves and place the shirt into the bucket only up to the rubber band. You are dying only the 4 inches of fabric you have rubber banded. Then remove the shirt and squeeze the extra water/dye off. You can add more dye to the water to deepen the color. Place the shirt back into the bucket remove and squeeze the excess water off. Repeat this step until you reach the color you want.

Step 6: Once you have rinsed the shirt with cold water let the shirt dry completely. You now have a patriotic shirt to wear during your 4th of July celebration. Enjoy!!!

Other hints/ideas: Take a sponge and dip it into the fabric dye and “stamp” red and blue designs all over the shirt. Or go to a local craft store and purchase fabric paint and brushes. With this paint you can create the same effect as above or simply paint the shirt with any type of red and blue design using a paintbrush. Also, there are pre-cut stencils, shapes, letters, etc. that can be used with fabric paint, or fabric colored markers. Take your time at the craft store and shop around, maybe you can come up with your own ideas to create a 4th of July shirt.