Upcycle your wardrobe with a tie-dye or bleach DIY!

2020 has already been a major year for DIY fashion and the latest trend is tie-dye.

Up until recently, tie-dye was a nostalgic fashion trend but thanks to video app TikTok, DIY tie-dying has become one of the biggest trends of lockdown.

Whilst mainstream brands have quickly jumped on the hype and started selling their own designs, many people are choosing to do it themselves at home to save money and have fun at the same time.

Want to jump on this trend? Here’s how to do it!

What you’ll need:

Clothing that you want to dye
Elastic bands
Coloured dye or bleach – you can get coloured dye kits from Amazon
Water and a place to rinse
Gloves

Cling-film (optional)

Step 1

Choose the clothing items that you want to tie-dye and wet them thoroughly.

This can be a jumper, sweatpants, t-shirt or even socks. Denim items also work if you’re bleaching!

Soak the items you’re going to use prior to dyeing

Step 2

You can either use the scrunch method or the twisting method to bring the item together into a small ball.

Simply scrunch the material together to form a ball.

Alternatively, if you want to create a pattern, use the twisting method by holding your selected item lengthwise and then twist it tightly, almost as if you are wringing out a towel. Then coil your clothing item into a spiral.

You can also lay the item out flat and hold your thumb in the middle. The twist the outside material around until it comes together tightly in the centre. Either of these techniques will help to produce a patterned tie-due effect.

Step 3

Then secure the bound up clothes up with elastic bands. This will keep the material together whilst you die it. Use a couple on each piece of clothing to make sure it is fully secure.

Step 4

To create a coloured tie-dye effect, cover the exposed parts of the clothes with the coloured dye of your choice. You can use as many colours as you want, depending on what loook you want to make.

Use a range of colours for a classic tie-dye effect

Alternatively, you can use bleach on coloured clothing items. This will produce different hues of the colour of the clothing.

Remember to use gloves if you are using bleach especially to protect your hands!

Step 5

Leave the clothes in a safe place for 6-8 hours to let the dye or bleach set. If you want you can use cling film to stop any dye running into the bath or place you are keeping them.

Step 6

Rinse the clothes off in the sink and then in the washing machine. This will stop the dye or bleach from transferring onto your skin.

And then you are done!

By the end, you should have some new tie-dye pieces that you love for a fraction of the retail prices.

If you need any inspiration or videos to follow, you’ll find loads on TikTok, including this one by our fashion editor, Lollie, and be sure to share your creations with us!

By Shannon Mountford