How to Make a
Spiral Tie-Dye TShirt
Entertaining Kids? Need a Fun, Hands-On
Activity?
No Fear! Spiral Tie-Dyed T-Shirts Are the Perfect Craft.
Making tie-dyed shirts allows kids to:
• Participate in a social activity
• Learn the importance of steptaking to replicate final picture on
tie-dye kit or box
• Demonstrate cleanliness when
doing a craft
• Build self-confidence through an
artistic outlet
• Add to their crafting experience
in order to recall and replicate in
the future
Spiral Tie-Dye
Goal and Objectives
Goal
Objectives
After learning each step of
spiral tie-dying a white t-shirt,
kids will be able to:
1. Learn skills applicable for
future tie-dying and other
relatable crafts.
2. Retain and pass on
necessary steps for spiral
tie-dying a white t-shirt.
1. Kids will learn basic
knowledge of creating a
spiral tie-dyed t-shirt
including preparation,
materials needed, steps,
and helpful tips.
2. Kids and caretakers will be
able to take all directions
and tips given, and apply
them for future crafts alike.
Complications or Insecurities
Possibly doubts of this
craft could be…
• Never tie-dying before
• Doing it with a rowdy group
of kids
• Not having enough
materials
• Craft becoming too messy
to clean
• Not knowing a good color
combo so colors don’t mesh
together
No worries! All
these issues will
be addressed
throughout the
presentation.
Step 1: Gather Materials Needed
• You can purchase individual
materials or you can buy a kit
that has everything included
(dyes, rubber bands and gloves).
• Pay attention to how many shirts
the kit can dye because
depending on how many kids
there are, you might have to buy
multiple kits in order to dye all
shirts.
• In addition to the supplies given
in the kit, you will also need
white t-shirts (size varies), big
garbage bags to cover dying
surface as well as large zip-lock
bags to store dyed shirts in while
the dye is soaking in the fabric.
Tip: Materials
bought at Michael’s
Craft Store for
$11.08!
Step 2: Pinching, Twisting and Binding
Shirt
• When shirt is laid flat on
covered surface (using your
large garbage bags), pinch the
shirt in the middle and start
twisting fabric around until the
whole shirt is twisted into a
spiral disk (picture a hurricane
swirl).
• Next, carefully wrap rubber
bands around the shirt so
they’re intersecting in the
middle, or the ‘eye’ of the
hurricane. Using at least 3
rubber bands, you want the
spiral disk to be divided into
six or more sections.
Tip: make sure
your t-shirt is
damp before
starting the
process. This
allows the dye to
cling to the shirt
better.
Advice: Kids
normally don’t
have a problem
with this step
unless their
rubber bands
aren’t tight
enough or in a
secure spot on
the t-shirt.
Step 3: Dying Your Shirt
•
•
•
•
Prepare surface by making sure you
have enough large garbage bags down
so dye doesn’t get on actual surface.
Once surface is ready, put on gloves and
make dyes in bottles given in your kit.
Make sure you do this over the sink.
Monitoring who gets the dyes, help kids
squirt the sections on their shirt. Make
sure they are keeping the colors in the
lines of the designated rubber bands so
the spiral pattern can be formed.
Once you see the surface of their disk
covered, help them out by making sure
the opposite side of the disk is covered
in color and open the folds of the shirt
to get the inside of the spiral so dye
reaches the middle.
Notice how
trash bag is
underneath!
Tip: Filling the bottles
halfway with water
allows the dye powder
to dissolve quicker, and
then add the rest and
shake some more.
Tip 2: Worried about
getting the color
brown? It’s OK if the
dye crosses the line
of the rubber bands
and mixes, but you
watching over the
kids doing it will
allow this to not
happen.
Step 4: Let Finished, Dyed Shirt Soak
• Once the shirt(s) is dyed
to your liking, put them
individually in large
plastic bags and let them
sit.
• Depending on the kit,
they should sit up to 1224 hours in the zip-locked
bag, making sure the
baggy is zipped all the
way and not putting the
shirts in direct sun light.
Tip: Having multiple shirts,
you can place them outside
in a shaded spot so they
don’t take up room inside
but are still not in direct
sunlight.
Step 5: Rinse Shirt and Cut Off Rubber
bands
• After the dyed shirts have
sat overnight, rise the
shirt in the sink until the
water runs clear.
• Wring the shirt out of
excess water and carefully
remove rubber bands.
• Taking the shirt outside,
shake it loose to see how
your design turned out!
Step 6: Additional Care
When washing it in the
washing machine, play it
safe by washing it by itself
because there will still be
excess dye in the fabric
and you don’t want that
getting on other clothing.
After that initial wash, feel
free to wash it with other
things!
Practice and Feedback
Practice:
Your initial time making a tiedyed shirt is your practice for
future tie-dying. You’ll also
pick up tricks that can improve
other things you might want to
tie-dye, including the amount
of time for your shirt to soak
or the color pattern used.
Feedback
You can gather your own
feedback by:
• Looking up written steps of
tie-dying on the internet.
• Visual tutorials offered on
YouTube.
• Allowing another parent or
caretaker to examine your
work and offer tips of
improvement or
compliments.
Assessment
• Asking a parent or another
caretaker to examine your
work allows an impression to
be sought, and given the kids
reactions that can also give a
rating of performance.
• Next time you go to do this
craft, you can recall feedback
and adjust steps so the areas
that might have needed
improvement in your tie-dying
can turn out the way you
originally wanted them to
(remember: kids are going to
be happy with the final result
no matter what!)
Sharing this Craft With Others
Sharing your knowledge of tie-dying with other
caretakers or parents is the most effective way to
receive feedback or indirectly give feedback to them if
they weren't as knowledgeable with all the steps.
• Make sure to give enough detail when telling another
how to tie-dye so their product can turn out similar,
if not the same, as yours.
• Tell of your faults in the process so they know to pay
attention to a certain step, or don’t feel as bad if they
accidently do the same thing!