Tie Dye with Christian

>It's the signature trademark of Summer Spree, the signature trademark that proves you've attended CAC's Summer Spree and not another arts camp, the trademark that leaves your finger tips stained for days and with a t-shirt brighter than any other t-shirt in your drawer; it's the signature CAC Summer Spree tie-dye t-shirt, and I finally had the opportunity to experience tie dye in it's glory today. 

When everybody else's tie dye t-shirts start to fade after only a few washes, CAC's Summer Spree t-shirts remain burning bright. How, you might ask?

I am about to reveal what allows CAC's tie dye to maintain it's brightness after several washes, week after week, summer after summer.... and that is: soda ash. The first step Christian demonstrated to the Turquoise group was to immerse our t-shirts in a bucket containing soda ash and water. Furthermore, Christian explained that the soda ash allows the dye to sink within the deepest fibers of the t-shirts fabric, which ultimately holds the dye in the fabric, keeping it bold and bright. 

[ Christian creates a spiral ]

Christian next demonstrated a technique of tie dying I was unfamiliar with (I am accustomed to the rubber band twisting technique); after laying down our white t-shirts soaked in soda ash, we pinched the fabric with pliers to create one big spiral. 

[ Creating spirals ]

[ Twisting ]

Next, we put the damp t-shirts on newspaper and geared up to dye them an array of colors. Christian showed us what I like to call the 'Pizza Pie technique'; each color of dye is squeezed within a baster and soaked onto the shirt in the shape of a triangle, or pizza slice. 

[ creating the pizza slices ]

Basically, we made what looked like a rainbow pizza. 

[ soaking up the dyes ]

[ rainbow pizzas ]

Once we completed one side of our t-shirts, we then flipped them over to dye the reverse side. 

 To complete today's tie dye task, we rolled the t-shirts in the newspaper and placed them in plastic bags to dry over night. For those of your who forgot the directions explaining how to next care for your signature CAC Summer Spree tie-dye t-shirt, fear no more. Here is what needs to be done:

1.) Let tie dyed piece sit in bags overnight

2.) Remove garment from bag

3.) Place in washing machine and wash two times on HOT cycle using NO detergent 

(optional: You may wash the garment a third time with detergent on whatever setting you would normally wash clothes)

4.) Place washed garments in dryer and dry on HOT

EXCESS DYE WILL NOT DAMAGE YOUR WASHER OR LEAVE A RESIDUE