Spiral Technique

• The spiral technique results in a fabric design of small spirals that gradually get bigger. Lay your fabric on a flat even surface and grab the center of the fabric with your fingers to hold it in place. Start twisting the other end of the fabric. As you twist the fabric take your other hand a press down on the twisted fabric to prevent the folds from rising upward. Continue to twist until the material resemble a bunched-up, twisted fat pancake. Tie a few pieces of shoelace or thick yarn to hold the twisted material in place. It does not matter how you tie it as long as it prevents the material from moving. You can squirt a bottle of dye throughout the material or dip it in the dye to color the fabric.
  
  

Knot-Tying Technique

• The knot-tying technique works well on lightweight fabrics and on long-sleeve shirts. It does not matter how many knots you tie in the fabric for your design to create a pattern. Knot-tying consists of holding the fabric at both ends and twisting the cloth until it resembles a rope. Then tie the fabric into a large knot. If the material is long enough, you can create more than one knot. Use rubber bands or some type of string to hold the knotted fabric together. For example, place rubber bands on both ends of the material and around the knots so it does not unravel. You can dip the fabric in a bowl of dye or squeeze the dye all over the fabric, allowing the fabric to absorb the dye.
  
  

Stripe Technique

• Stripe tie-dye patterns are similar to the knot-tying technique. However, with this technique you roll the fabric to form a tube. For example, with a T-shirt, start to roll the shirt along the bottom until you have reach the top portion of the T-shirt. It will appear as a tube. Use rubber bands to keep the shirt from unrolling. Assure rubber bands are at both ends and in the middle of the rolled T-shirt or fabric. Place the material in a bucket of dye, or pour the dye directly on the shirt.
  
  

Electric Bunching Technique

• Electric bunching consists of gathering fabric in a shape of a ball. When bunching the fabric, try to expose a lot of the fabric to the outside of the ball to absorb the dye. It works well on thin material, which is likely to stay in place. Additionally, secure the ball with rubber bands and then roll the fabric in the dye. The finished design resembles streaks of lightning. Additionally, this technique gets the name electric bunching because the final design looks similar to lightning.
  
  

Ideal Fabric

• You can tie-dye practically any type of fabric, but some types of fabric are better than others. Natural fiber fabric, such as hemp, linen, rayon, ramie and rayon, work well. Sometimes 100 percent natural material is difficult to locate, so you may opt for material with 90 percent cotton and 10 percent of another fabric such as Lycra or polyester.
  
  

Protect Your Craft Area

• Tie dyeing can cause a mess. It is wise to use old newspaper or paper towels to soak up the excess dye dripping from the material you select. Wear old clothing when tie-dyeing fabric, especially since the dye stains.
  
  

Dye

• Craft and fabric stores carry a variety of dyes that work for tie-dyeing. However, cold water fiber-reactive dyes work especially well (see Resources). It dyes at warm room temperature and it binds with fibers such as linen, cotton and rayon.