Tie Dye Beach Bags

Brighten up your holidays with a colourful tie-dye bag for all those summer bits and bobs

Tie Dye Beach Bags

Skill Level

Advanced

Time to Make

45 minutes

Adult Supervision Needed

Yes

How to Make

  1. As dyes can stain, prepare your work area with a waterproof sheet and wear an apron to protect your clothes.
  2. Pre-soak your canvas bag in cold water and wring out thoroughly. This allows the dye to spread more evenly through the fabric.
  3. Use the elastic bands to create your desired design. For the striped design, Concertina-fold the bag vertically and secure with elastic bands at regular intervals, leaving the handles free.
  4. For the watermelon design, pinch the bag at one of the bottom corners and concertina-fold diagonally. Secure with an elastic band 5 inches from the corner (this will form the pink area), then 1 inch beyond (this will be left blank), and finally
    2 inches after that (this will be the green area)
  5. Use protective gloves to prepare the dyes according to the instructions on the bottle, making sure to shake thoroughly.
  6. For the striped bag, apply one colour of dye to alternating sections of the bag, checking all sides to ensure that the dye has soaked through and there are no white areas. Use kitchen paper towel to mop up any dye that has leaked, then use another colour to apply dye to the remaining sections.
  7. For the watermelon bag, apply pink dye to the 5 inch section, and green dye to the 2 inch section.
  8. Wrap each bag loosely in cling film and allow colours to develop for 4-6 hours.
  9. Carefully unwrap the bags and rinse thoroughly under running cold water until the water runs clear of dye. Then wash at 30 degrees on a gentle cycle.
  10. When the bags are dry, iron gently to remove any creases.
  11. To finish the design of the watermelon bag, cut ¾ inch ovals out of black self-adhesive felt and affix to the pink section of the bag, radiating from the bottom corner as shown.

Top Tip

To retain the crinkle-effect of the fabric after tie-dyeing, gently iron when dry. Otherwise, for a wrinkle-free look, iron when damp.