Episode 72: A Beautiful Mess

I really do not understand how it happened in the first place. To start, I'd fallen asleep on the couch watching Kung-Fu movies. I woke up watching Kung-Fu movies...and with an overwhelming compulsion to create tie-dye t-shirts. Laugh if you must but I'm not joking. I don't know what came over me. It was like this desire, this urge to just do something that I've never done before. This is what happens when I wake up too early. I suppose I could have turned in, going back to sleep but I couldn't stop myself. I got up, got dressed, got myself together and braved the daylight to make a trip across town to the dollar store. No need to take the bike, I thought, I crave music.

I started out the door, my iPod going strong, thinking of the types of designs I wanted to create. I'd consulted a random website on it and thought about what I would need. T-shirts, rubberbands, gloves, and the dye. This, my friends, is evolution...the monkey, the man...and the gun.

The shirts were the ultra cheap type. Thin white cotton t-shirts that underwent shrinkage faster than a pack of Marlboros at an A.A., Rubberbands and the gloves were easy to come by. The dye wasn't so prevalent here and when I did find the dye, there weren't many colors from which to choose. Thankfully, the store did have three of my faves in Scarlet, Black and Purple. I picked up each color in powder and liquid.

Initially, I had contemplated starting this undertaking over the weekend but, having all the materials, these shirts were going to be the experiment and if it's one thing I do well (often, with disasterous results) is experiment.

I began setting up, laying down a garbagebag that had been cut open and taping it to the floor and then laying newspaper over it, taping it down as well. I had to estimate when it came to water in which to mix the powder. My improvised 5-gallon bucket wastebasket would have to serve as the container for the dye. It wasn't like I was going to be eating out of the thing, was it?
And so, it went. Mix the hot water with the powder, starting with the scarlet. Watching water turn blood red was one of the most interesting things I've ever seen. Laying the shirt out flat, I pinched it right about where the sternum would be if the shirt were being worn and I began twisting and pulling until I'd twisted it into a sort of cone shape. Then...I rubberbanded the hell out of it. Once that was done, it went into the bucket to soak.

That's when a really interesting idea came up. It happened when I shook the scarlet water from my gloves and onto the newspaper. I grabbed one of the other shirts, spread it out onto the clean area of the newspaper and began putting my hands into the dye and splattering it all over the shirt. Then...I went mad. I grabbed handfuls of the dye and aggressively threw it onto the shirt and slapping my hands all over it. The end result was something I was really proud of.

I call my wretched creation The Second Degree Murder Shirt. It looks like I aided in the initial Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I did this while waiting on the first shirt to finish soaking. Normally, you'd leave the shirt in the dye for about 15 - 30 minutes. Never one to be outdone by time, I left my shirt in for an hour. After wrestling was over, I pulled the shirt from the Scarlet dye.

I was amazed at what came out. It was still dripping wet but the desired outcome was pretty gnarly if I do say so myself. I then began to wonder just what would happen with the black. I dumped the scarlet and had to chase it out of my bathtub immediately with water before it stained my bathtub. Bad enough I had the Second Degree Murder Shirt hanging out with this thing...the last thing I wanted to do was have to explain a scarlet-stained bathtub if some cop got nosy. Let's face it, they stop to ask me if I'm just out for a damn walk. Geez....paranoia...the game the whole government can play.

Check out the results of the experiment with the black dye. This is where I had to do something different for setup. I ended up having to dismantle one of Dude on The Couch's rakes. I'll buy him another one. I needed the handle for this experiement.

See what I mean? I twisted it around the handle, rubberbanded the hell out of it and used it to both mix and hold the shirt down in the dye. You can see the mess that was made from my adventure with The Second Degree Murder Shirt. And there are my poor, abused gloves. If the bucket looks like I'm carrying what Dubya would end up fighting me over, that's because when the powder mixes with about three gallons of water, it really looks interesting. This was actually the second of the two shirts that went into the black. This is what happened when I pulled it out.

I really loved the "wormhole" effect that this particular tie pattern left behind but it was the first run that inspired me to try it...check it out.

After the drying process, I learned a few things.

1. The dye will truly dye ANYTHING. Even the cotton bag that came with my motocross goggles got dyed and what came out? A circular pattern on it that makes it look like the Oakley "O" logo in X-ray.





I'm thinking about adding in a second color later. Might not...don't know. It's important though, to clean...thourougly, any container you use and it helps to have multiple buckets and a large work area.

2. Rubber bands help in giving the tie dye material it's design. It also adds that "smoke" effect to the whole thing.

3. The way you twist up or bunch your material also contributes to the pattern.

4. Each shirt will come out unique if you're not planning it.

5. The colors will fade unless you wring out the excess dye back into the bucket. They will also fade in the drying process. If you really want your colors vibrant...you might want to use double the amount of dye in three gallons of water. And double the amount of time you soak the material.

6. Add a cup of salt into the dye...it helps intensify the colors.

7. Patterns are contingent on how tightly or loosely you twist, bunch, pleat or fold your material.
The stress I've been under lately...well, I have to say this...I suddenly felt it lift off me. I could see the effort of my work. The only complaint that I have is that I had no one else to share the outcome with...until now. I hope you enjoy the outcome of this experiment as much as I enjoyed the performance of it.