Skill Level
Beginner. Adult supervision needed
Time to Make
4 hours
Adult Supervision Needed
Yes
How to Make
- Cover your work surface with plastic bags or a mat to protect it from the dye. Lay your plain T-shirt out flat, and then pinch the fabric at the point where you’d like the middle of your rainbow spiral design to start. Keeping this part pinched, start twisting the fabric tightly around it so the T-shirt starts forming a spiral. Try to keep the spiral as neat and tightly packed together as possible, once the outer layers start taking shape, you should be able to let go of the centre and push the outer edges in to keep it in shape instead.
- Secure the spiral shape in place with elastic bands. Place one over the whole width of the spiral, then add three more in the same way, at equal intervals around the spiral, each crossing over each other at the centre-point so you’ve created an eight point star shape from the bands which has divided the fabric spiral up into eight sections.
- Wet the fabric in a bowl of water before applying the paint – this will help the fabric absorb the colours more. Squirt colours onto the sections – if you want an even, complete coverage make sure you use the nozzle to get the colour into the folds properly, and be sure to use the same colour on the front and back of each section. We weren’t fully thorough so our spiral is slightly broken but we like that effect!
- When you’ve finished colouring the fabric, wrap it in clingfilm (still secured by elastic bands). Leave to dry for about three hours then unwrap it, rinse in the sink and wash in the washing machine on a normal cycle.
- To finish, hang it up to dry then you’re ready to wear it!
Top Tip
Be careful not to pour out too much colour straight away, apply it gradually to build up the coverage in each section.
