TPiB: Sharpie “Tie Dye” T’s

June 18, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS 1 comments

Every summer I run at least one T shirt decorating program because they are surefire hits for my group. Tie dying is the classic, but truth be told, it really pushes the limits of my willingness to tolerate mess and spend gobs of setup and cleanup time. This year we’re trying a different spin on the familiar style, using permanent markers. Fortunately, it dovetails nicely with this summer’s CSRP, Spark a Reaction, thanks to the hidden science that we’ll get to later.

Here’s how it’s done:

Stretch your T-shirt over a pice of cardboard (above, I used a flexible plastic place mat which also works). Alternately, you can stretch your T over a plastic cup and rubber band it taut to give you a circular workspace.

Experiment with ink patterns and shapes. In the above example, the yellow/orange/red section was created by dotting the ink on, and the blue/green/purple one was done with lines.

Spray or drip rubbing alcohol onto your design, starting from the center. If desired, use a chopstick or pencil to poke the center up, ensuring that the alcohol moves away from the center.

The result is a blending and bleeding of colors that simulates the tie-dye look. Teens can also get creative, drawing designs and spraying them to give them a glow effect. Below, you can see how my daughter salvaged her drawing of princesses by spraying the heck out of them to turn them into something much more interesting and mystical (in my opinion). Karen says: Weeping Angels!

Send teens home with instructions to iron it on the highest setting for the fabric once it has dried. This will help set the color so it won’t fade too quickly in the wash. I recommend washing alone the first time, and using cold water.

The hidden educational bit here is that what you’re doing is basic chromatography. By spraying the alcohol on the ink, you see the colors change and blend because, in part, they are separating into their components. If you’d like to play up the science end of things, consider purchasing the Sharpie Pen Science kit from Steve Spangler Science.

Supplies:
T shirts, bandanas, or other fabric items
Sharpies
Rubbing alcohol
Spray bottles, eye droppers, or straws
Cardboard
Plastic cups
Rubber Bands

Cost:
If you already have the Sharpies and kids bring their own T shirts, you could run this for as little as the cost of a bottle of rubbing alcohol, about $2.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

Time:
15 minutes to 1 hour

Setup/Cleanup:
Minimal

Ages:
Great for both tweens and teens

-Heather

More T-Shirt Fun:
Meme All the Shirts
Making a Tardis T-shirt

Filed under: Collaborative Summer Reading Program, Crafts, Summer 2014, TPIB

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

TPiB: Sharpie “Tie Dye” T’s

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Related Posts

SLJ Blog Network

Something for the Radar: DOG MAN Animated Film Coming in January

On Writing Memoir and NOT Autobiography: A Ruth Chan Q&A on Uprooted

Recent Graphic Novel Deals, Late August 2024 | News

September Check-In: Poll Results

Talking with the Class of ’99 about Censorship at their School

LIVE from My Car: THE SHIP IN THE WINDOW Unraveled

Related Articles on SLJ

4 Captivating Crossover Titles for Teens to Read During Summer Break | We Are Kid Lit Collective

Captivating Careers | Jobs Series Nonfiction

6 STEM titles for new readers | Transitional Spotlight

A Student’s List of “Evil” Books | Scales on Censorship

12 Coming-of-Age Stories and Compelling Nonfiction for Teens | We Are Kid Lit Collective

Comments

Archives

TPiB: Sharpie “Tie Dye” T’s

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Related Posts

SLJ Blog Network

Related Articles on SLJ

Reader Interactions

Comments

Archives

Follow This Blog