DIY Tie-Dye Shorts

Another fashion blast-from-the-past has taken over everyone’s Instagram feed and this time, it’s so 90s!

Tie-dye is having a major moment right now, and I am so here for it. So much so that I decided to have a little fun and relive some childhood memories by doing a little DIY Tie-Dye. I decided to repurpose an old pair of shorts, picked up an inexpensive tie-dye kit, and got creative.

(Also, the kit I picked up had plenty of supplies for multiple projects so I plan on making use of it again.)

Start With A Clean Slate

The shorts I decided to use were medium-wash denim. I wanted to make sure the color really popped so the first step was soaking those shorts in bleach.

I used a 50-50 solution of bleach and water and let them soak overnight. In the morning they were left with only a few traces of denim coloring, good enough for what I had planned. I hand washed the shorts and rinsed them thoroughly (if there’s any bleach left behind it can interfere with the dying process). Then it was time to prep for the fun part.

I wanted the pattern for the dye to be sort of an ombre effect. For that, I rolled the shorts from hem to waistband and sectioned them off with rubber bands (included in the tie-dye kit). I did the actual dying process outside to avoid making too much of a mess.

With the kit I had, the different dyes were already in their own individual squeeze bottles. All I had to do was fill them with water, shake to mix and go. This made it super easy and definitely kid-friendly. The kit also included several pairs of plastic gloves.

Should Have Remembered Art Class

Now, here’s where you can learn from my experience…do not start with your darkest color.

I wanted the shorts to be blue, pink, and yellow. What I ended up with was more like blue, purple, and lime green. That’s not to say I don’t love how they turned out, but it’s definitely not what I intended.

I blame the order I applied the dye.

I started with my blue dye and it bled pretty quickly into the other sections where there was no dye yet. By the time I finished with the other two sections, things had definitely taken a blue-ish tint.

I believe if I had started with my lightest color (yellow) and saved blue for last, the colors might have stayed true. In theory, those sections would have already been saturated with dye before the blue dye had a chance to bleed.

And For The Big Finish

The directions on the dye kit said to let the dye sit for 6-8 before rinsing.

Um…I should also add that sometimes I don’t always time things well. When I started dying the shorts, it was already mid-afternoon. If I had followed the directions to a T and rinsed them out exactly 6-8 hours later, I would have been handwashing a pair of shorts at midnight.

So, I left them to sit overnight.

And it was fine.

In the morning I rinsed them with cold water until the water was almost clear. Then I went a step further than the directions on the kit. I vaguely remembered using vinegar to set fabric dye (so it doesn’t come out in the wash) from using tie-dye as a kid. A quick Google search later, I followed these directions and it was done.

I will add that I plan on washing them separately a few times before I throw them in the laundry with any of my other clothes, just to be on the safe side. I like tie-dye…but I still don’t want the rest of my wardrobe to accidentally take on this trend.

To see more of the Spring trends I’m loving, check out my Instagram feed or my Shop The Blog page!