Throw A Tie-Dye Party It’s So Much Fun!
Have you ever wanted to tie-dye? Are you looking for something fun to do with the kids, tweens or teens? Throw a tie-dye party with a tie-dye kit! This is a fun outdoor activity and a party idea that can be planned for doing outdoors any time the weather is nice. These kits are easy enough for beginners and so much fun. PS you don’t need kids to have a tie-dye party.
Tie-Dye Party
We were super excited to throw this fun summer party. It has been quite a while since we made dyed t-shirts. It is so easy, not as messy as you might think. This is a fun outdoor activity to do with older kids, tweens or teens. Perfect for an end of summer activity, before back to school or just to have a good time.
Honestly, this has been on our summer bucket list for a while. We have been busy or it’s been too hot to break open our kit. Finally, we had a day mild enough for tie-dying outdoors, and everyone was available to come. Yay! This is a fun activity to do outdoors was perfect for the end of summer bash!
In a hurry to get started scroll down to the how-to and the tie-dye party!
Speaking of summer bucket lists, and boredom busters you might like these posts when you are done.
- Kids Activity Jar DIY – You will want to make this and keep your kids from being bored this summer.
- Our DIY summer camp comes with so many ideas for kids summer crafts and other fun summer kids activities. It also includes free printable for reading, and more printables, plus ideas to keep them busy all summer.
- Check out our other Crafts for Kids.
Besides the fun, another bonus to having a tie-dye party is you have a cool t-shirt to wear that you designed. There are so many patterns, and tie-dye techniques you can pick to try. We have shared a few design ideas below to help you get started.
Start By Grabbing a Tie Dye Party Kit!
Have your guests bring their own pre-washed (with no fabric softener) t-shirts or buy them in advance.
- We purchased our t-shirts ahead of time as you need to wash out the sizing. (remember not to add any fabric softener when washing them)
- And grabbed our tie-dye kit
We were ready for some outdoor arts and crafts. Everyone had so much fun at the tie-dye party! Here’s how to get started on your own summer tie-dye party. Or for s spring party outdoors. This is the perfect activity and teen craft or tween craft to try.
How-To Tie-Dye
The girls picked out designs from YouTube for making their tie-dye patterns. Watching tie-dye techniques before getting started. But, here are a few tie-dye techniques we have tried before; You might remember these posts
Bullseye Tie Dye Design
For my sleeveless t-shirt, I made a variation on the bullseye pattern. To beginI pulled my first pull from the center and added rubber bands spaced to the end of the t-shirt. I didn’t use as much dye as in the video, as I wanted more white showing. I used an old 100% cotton tank top t-shirt 
hoping to give it a new life after the girls dyed their t-shirts. (moms gotta get in on the fun too!)
- For Sammie’s t-shirt design, she made a variation of the crumple technique but, then rubber banned hers before dying.
- See this easy tie-dye patterns are swirl pattern (shown below in the video in this post).
- Tie-Dye Designs and techniques are easy to search for on YouTube. Just type the subject in their search bar.
Tie-dye parties and activities are great for not only summer you can do tye-dye crafts in the fall or spring too. The best time to get started tie-dying is before it gets hot outdoors and in the later afternoon. It is easy to set up and use kits for dying t-shirts.
Supply List For Tie-Dying
Supplies and a tie-dye kit
- Use a tie-dye kit OR this (The 2nd kit is a smaller version of the one we used.) Tulip brand
is my favorite dye-kit so far. - 100% cotton t-shirts girl, teens
- 100% Boys youth t-shirts
- 100% Adult T-Shirts
- Extra rubber bands are handy to have on hand depending on designs. Or how many people are making tie-dyed t-shirts at the tie-dye party.
- Plastic Aprons (optional) Or just wear older clothes and shoes.
- Protect your work surface by using cut open trash bags or disposable table cloth.
is my favorite dye-kit so far. 
are handy to have on hand depending on designs. Or how many people are making tie-dyed t-shirts at the tie-dye party. 
(optional) Or just wear older clothes and shoes. Tie-dye instructions
- Cover your outdoor table with plastic bags or another protective cover.
- Have pre-washed and dried 100% cotton t-shirts, socks, hats, or fabric.
- If creating an ombre effect or other effects that call for your t-shirts can be damp, and you won’t need to dry them.
- Open kit, add water close bottles and shake.
- Put on your gloves. (Note: These aren’t the gloves from the kit, they accidentally grabbed my craft gloves) Dye your t-shirts.
- Add to plastic zip locks or wrap in saran.
- Keep your t-shirt or another tie-dyed item stay in a plastic bag or saran 6-8 hours.
- Then follow directions after the time is up for rinsing, drying, heat setting in dryer.
) Dye your t-shirts.
- You don’t have to use a white t-shirt. Sammie picked an orange t-shirt for hers to create this grunge effect. I hope to update with photos from the other dyed t-shirts from the teens at the party. They took theirs home with them in plastic bags. But, Sammie saw a few on SnapChat and said they all turned out great.
- Here’s a video of how to set up your tie-dye party.
Tada! Tie-dying is fun!
I did like the tip for everyone creating their t-shirts in plastic bins
. Or you can use disposable roasting pans
(They can NOT be used for food after! Either recycle or clean and save for future projects.) This would be great for younger kids.
But, it’s not needed if you have a larger table that is protected with disposable plastic table cloths
. Just make sure each person has enough space to work. You can also have paper towels
or wet wipes
on hand, in case their space needs tidying up.
We loved the tie-dye techniques in this video for a heart t-shirt design and swirl design. You can see how easy it is to beginner tie-dye techniques. The heart design will be on my must-try tie-dye techniques.
Tie-Dye Tips (*resource) Tie-Dye Your Summer
The link above has so many answers to the common questions about tie-dying, and tips. We have listed a few of the most common ones from this resource.
Should your t-shirts be dry or wet? Which is better?
It recommends washing your fabric and leaving it damp before tie–dyeing, as the dye has an easier time saturating the fabric when it’s wet. But depending on the technique and the look you want, you can apply dye to dry fabric. Just make sure the fabric has been washed (if it’s new) to remove the sizing. *resource
Can you use a cotton-poly blend t-shirt?
Yes but, the colors won’t come out as vibrant. *resource
You don’t have to know the history of tie-dye but, if you want to add a bit of learning or fun facts, to your party you can.
Hope you get to throw a tie-dye party soon. Tag us @DearCreatives on Instagram with your party photos or wearing your dyed t-shirts.
If you liked today’s craft idea you might like to try making these t-shirts too!
Star Wars Tee Shirts DIY with templates. This is a project that teens could try, or you can make for the kids. Create your own Star Wars t-shirts. Pop over to see all the 5 Star Wars Designs on T-shirts.
