Rediscovering tie dye

Many years ago I used to be made for tie-dye clothing - tops, skirts, leggings, the lot. It worked well with the tight jeans and leather jacket biker chick thing at the time!

That was all long forgotten until a distant memory inspired me to transform a couple of forlorn summer tops in my wardrobe.

I had bought these in a bargain offer from Matalan a couple of years ago. There were 3 for some silly price - so I bought one each in white, turquoise, and pink. I'd hardly worn them as the straps were just that bit too long, which meant I was forever hitching them up at the bust!

This summer I finally got round to unpicking the straps at the back, shortening them and sewing them back on. Great! I wore them a couple of times, but still knew I'd wear the coloured ones more if they were patterned...

Enter 1 sachet of Dylon cold dye in "Vibrant Purple", 3 rubber bands per top, 250grams of salt, and a saucepan of cold water. 

One hour of dyeing later, plus almost another hour of much rinsing, these are the results!

I gathered the pink one lengthways and wrapped the rubber bands around sideways.

With the blue one I did the more traditional circle tie-dye where you grab a piece of the clothing and pull it upwards, wrapping the rubber band around so the whole thing ends up looking a bit like a jester's hat!

I love them and have worn them so much already. Now my eldest has seen the results, she wants to have a go too. It's a great (and cheap) way to transform plain tops - so why not grab a couple in the sales and have a go yourself?!