Tie and Dye a Fabric
Senior 3 · Fine Arts
Tie and Dye a Fabric
Lesson 2 of 4
20 min
Mugisha squeezed red dye onto one half of his bundled T-shirt and green onto the other. When he opened it the next day, the red and green were there, but a wide band of muddy brown ran between them. Nothing went wrong with the dye. He had forgotten what you learned in Unit 2: red and green are complements, and complements mixed together make a dull brown. In tie-dye the dyes mix on the cloth wherever they meet, so colour theory decides whether the result is bright or muddy.
Definition
Transparent colour: colour that lets light and the colours beneath show through, as dye does. Dye laid over dye mixes optically, like layers of coloured glass.
Bleeding: dye spreading through damp fabric beyond where it was applied, mixing with neighbouring colours.
Dilution: adding water to a dye solution to make it weaker, which gives a lighter tint on the cloth.
Over-dyeing: dyeing fabric that is already coloured; the new dye mixes with the old colour.
Colour palette (in tie-dye): the small set of dye colours chosen for one piece.
Paint covers what is beneath it; dye does not. Because dye is transparent, the colour you see is the dye plus whatever is already there:
Use the 12-part colour wheel from Unit 2 to predict every meeting point. Neighbours on the wheel blend into a clean related colour. Complements (red and green, blue and orange, yellow and violet) contain all three primaries between them, so where they meet the result is brown or grey.
| Scheme | How | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Monochrome | one dye at two or three strengths | calm, elegant; strong contrast with the white resist |
| Analogous | two or three neighbours, such as yellow, orange and red | warm or cool harmony; borders blend smoothly |
| Wheel sequence | colours placed in colour-wheel order | a rainbow effect with clean borders |
| Complementary accent | complements used, but separated by white resist or a neighbour colour | vivid contrast without mud |
Apply colours section by section, keeping the wheel order (Figure 2). Leave a little undyed space between colours that must not mix, or put a neighbouring colour between them. Apply lighter colours first, because a dark dye bleeding into a light one shows much more than the other way round. Use less dye near the borders and more in the centre of each section.
The strength of a dye solution controls how light or dark the colour is. A strong solution gives a deep colour; diluting it gives a lighter tint of the same hue. The white resist is the lightest value of all. A design with clear differences in value, such as white, a pale tint and a deep shade, reads well from a distance, just like the posters in Unit 4.
Worked example 1: making a lighter tint
Teta's strong blue is 2 teaspoons of dye in 250 ml of water. She wants a half-strength blue for the outer rings of her design. What are two ways to make it?
Method A: mix a fresh solution with half the dye: teaspoon in 250 ml of water.
Method B: take 125 ml of the strong solution and add 125 ml of water. The dye in 125 ml of strong solution is teaspoon, now in 250 ml, which is the same strength as Method A.
Worked example 2: planning a club T-shirt
The environment club wants a spiral in its colours, green and yellow, with a touch of blue. Plan the order of colours round the spiral.
Step 1. Check the wheel. Yellow, green and blue are neighbours (yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue), so every border will blend cleanly.
Step 2. Order. Yellow, then green, then blue, then green again, then yellow: an analogous sequence with no complements meeting.
Step 3. Order of application. Yellow first (lightest), then green, then blue, using less dye at the borders.
<em>The Beginning: Tie Dye Color Theory</em>, from the Little Earth Hippie channel. Watch which colours are placed next to each other and why, and check each choice against your 12-part colour wheel from Unit 2.
Warning
Too much dye. Flooding a bundle makes colours run together under the bindings and spoils the white resist. Apply dye slowly and turn the bundle over to check the back.
Don't mix up bottles. Label every bottle with its colour and strength, and keep the lids on when not in use.
Tip
Neighbours may touch; complements must not. Light colours first, dark last, less dye at the borders.
Practice
What colour appears where (a) red and yellow dyes meet; (b) blue and red dyes meet; (c) blue and orange dyes meet?
Explain why dye colours mix on the cloth but paint usually covers the colour beneath.
Blue dye is used on a pale yellow cotton cloth. What colour will the dyed areas be, and what colour will the resist areas be?
A strong red is 3 teaspoons of dye in 300 ml. How much dye is needed for 300 ml of a one-third-strength tint?
A spiral has four sections, to be dyed with yellow, red and blue only (one colour used twice). Give an order, and name the colour formed at each of the four borders.
Evaluate this plan: "Violet next to yellow next to violet, because they make the strongest contrast."
Colour plan. Draw a circle or rectangle for your own design, divide it into sections and colour the plan with pencils. Mark where colours will meet and name the colour each meeting point will make.
1. (a) orange; (b) violet; (c) brown or grey, since they are complements.
2. Dye is transparent and soaks into the fibres, so light passes through it and the colours beneath show through and mix; paint is mostly opaque and sits on top.
3. The dyed areas will be green (blue over yellow); the resist areas will stay pale yellow.
4. One third of 3 teaspoons: teaspoon in 300 ml.
5. No two primaries are complements, so every border makes a clean secondary. For example yellow, red, blue, red: the borders are orange (yellow and red), violet (red and blue), violet (blue and red) and orange (the last red meeting the first yellow).
6. Violet and yellow are complements. Side by side they contrast strongly only if they do not touch; where wet dyes meet, they make brown. Separate them with a white resist line or use them in different areas, or choose an analogous neighbour in between.
7. Check: every meeting point named correctly using the colour wheel; no unplanned complement borders.
Which colours would you choose for a fabric that should feel calm, and which for one that should feel full of energy? Explain using the colour wheel.
Sources and credits
