Tie dye is a funny thing. It feeds your control issues. It allows you to choose a design, choose your colours, and choose your blank. It allows you to feel like you are thrifty. All those white background shirts from 5Ks, camps, and preschools are fair game (along with all the grimy underwear shirts your husband wears and you cannot stand to see walking around). And it makes you feel like a chemist. For someone that dropped science in tenth grade to pursue visual arts, this is a big deal.
BUT
Then....
You are never absolutely sure what your design will do until you untie it. You become obsessed with new designs and perfecting the one that got away (and go through your "thrifty" shirts in no time). And the fabulous chemistry that allows for intense, bright, mouthwatering colours also stains every single thing that comes into contact with it.
Tie Dye comes with yin and yang all sewed up.
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Jenn's first tie dyeing project - "socking" stuffers.
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It is also one of the only surprises left out there - for those of us who cannot stand waiting 9 months to find out the sex of our kids. Doing tie dye is like taking pictures on a roll of film. When you're trying new ties and new colours and playing - you dye, then you wait. And you wait. Sure, you can buy a whole new microwave and speed up the process, but where's the thrift and patience in that. Then you wait some more. Then you peruse appliance ads. And wait. THEN you get to open the little envelope folder thing and see if all those shots were masterpieces like you predicted. You wash and BAM - there's the first surprise...then you dry it, and BAM! A second surprise. The beauty of tie dye never gets old. Even after the 19th shamrock shirt - you're still begging for more!
