Friday, February 19, 2010

tie dye snowman shirt

This has since been featured in Family Fun Magazine!
Back in January, I wrote about Lou's tie-dye snowman shirt. Lou's was a gift from our Florida friend, Korin. I called Korin and she gave me all the directions we needed. We finally made Bee one and I took lots of pictures. Here's how to make your own.





Make up dye according to the package you buy. I tried this brand which is available lots of places, craft stores and big box places alike.


Find a white shirt. We used one that we had stained up a little. And when I say we, I mean, a shirt that Bee- the messiest gal ever has stained. Three different sized balls are needed. It would be best if the balls didn't have holes in them. Our golf ball had a little hole and ended up filling with the dye water and had to be thrown away.




Place the largest ball under the material and gather around it. Tie with a yarn, rubber band, or other string like thing. Next, use the medium ball and put it right above the large ball. Really try to push it right up against the first one. Tie up in the same way. Repeat with the smallest ball on top. (You can see in the next picture how the balls don't lay in line at this point. It should still be ok.)


Place the shirt in the dye as per your directions. Mine had me soak the shirt for 45 minutes then rinse in cold water. I rinsed as well as I could with the balls still tied in. Then I remove the balls and rinsed a little more.



Admire your snowman. hopefully.



Continue to follow the directions on your dye package. Mine had me line dry next. I also threw in some other shirts at this point. It didn't turn out quiet as 'tulip red' as I hoped. Lou has a nice bright pink shirt now. I have one too.



Here's Lou's shirt. There are many options here for decorating your shirt. I wanted Bee's to match Lou's so I kept it simple. This one has three sewn on buttons and puffy paint for the face, arms, and hat.

Bee's looks good too. You could also use fabric appliques for the hat, beads for the eyes and mouth. I considered a ribbon for a scarf.



Then, just take lots of pictures of your snow people.





I don't know what he did, but she's blaming him!

Break time for Lou- union rules.


Lou's shirt has some personalization on the sleeve. That sounds easy too, Korin told me all about it. That's another post. Maybe after I get all the dye washed off my hands.



This idea has since also been featured at:

Fun Family Crafts:

Fun Family Crafts


11 comments:

grandma said...

The shirt is cute but gee that is a lot of work. You are so patient.

Unknown said...

SUPER neat idea!

Anonymous said...

It's too bad they don't come in an XL Grandpa size. It would be the only one in town.

Could you make a fish one somehow?

Love Always,

Dad

Sara said...

Thanks so much for the tutorial! I love it! Did you know that you are on the weekend roundup from One Pretty Thing?!? congrats! Here is the link to your feature: http://www.oneprettything.com/?p=8936

Liz said...

So cute. Thanks for sharing the tutorial. My little ones will love these!

Unknown said...

I am totally going to make these for my kiddos in the Fall. Thanks for the great idea. I'll make sure and post your link to my page when I blog it.

Anonymous said...

This is so cute!! I'm going to have to make some while I'm on vacation next week.

Lindsey said...

So fun! I just saw something like this in Family Fun magazine, but couldn't find their post about it. I'm glad I found yours! I'd rather pin a real person's blog anyway!

Cindy deRosier said...

I'm the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your shirt! You can see it here:

http://funfamilycrafts.com/tie-dye-snowman-shirt/

If you have other kid friendly crafts, we'd love it if you would submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!

Clint/Wendy said...

I loved your idea! We, or rather I, have made pumpkins & Jack-O-Lanterns in a similar fashion! They turned out terrific. I love having another idea to run with. Thanks for this post!

agbomar said...

Did you ever post how to do the names on the side? I was thinking of making these as gifts and LOVE the idea of the names on them