Published Date August 21, 2019
We're of the opinion that you can never have too much of a good thing - give us MORE already!!! We've been loving pastel tie dye all season long (thanks T. Swift!) and decided it would be fun to make another pastel project for back to school, since pastel tie-dye is still our jam and basically we want MORE. Hit the halls in DIY style with a pair of pastel tie-dye jeans you can make yourself using a faded pair of jeans you already have and our Tulip® Kaleidoscope 12-Color Kit. You'll save on back-to-school shopping plus look awesome ... double win!
- Tulip Kaleidoscope 12-Color Tie-Dye Kit or Tulip Super Big Tie-Dye Kit
- Faded/light-colored 100% cotton jeans
- Washable marker
- Extra dye bottles (or disposable cups)
- Zip ties (optional - or you can use the rubber bands included in your kit)
- Disposable plastic surface cover
- Scissors
Wash jeans (without fabric softener) and leave damp. Lay out flat on your covered work surface and use a washable marker to draw a chevron/V pattern across the front of jeans. Draw as many V sections as desired; we drew the pattern to halfway down our jeans.
Pleat the jeans along your first marker line so that the line aligns straight across the top of the pleats. Tightly bind with a rubber band or zip tie to secure. Repeat this process along each marker line.
Mix your dyes according to kit instructions. We used Pink, Orange and Teal for our jeans. If you have extra mixing bottles, pour some mixed dye of each color into a new mixing bottle for each color, then refill each with water to dilute the colors and create pastel shades. Test on scrap fabric first if desired to make sure you like the colors. If you don't have extra mixing bottles, you can pour out a majority of each dye color into a plastic cup (one for each color) to save dye, leaving about a third or less of dye in each of your bottles. Refill with water to dilute and shake to mix. Test if desired until you are happy with each color.
Apply diluted dye colors to bound sections of jeans, alternating colors between sections. One you have finished, cover jeans with plastic to keep damp and let set for time recommended in instructions.
Once dye has set, cut off rubber bands/zip ties and immediately wash according to instructions. Make sure to wash separately from other clothing the first few washes since some dye will wash out in the process.
How pretty are these pastel tie-dye jeans?! So easy to make and the best part is, no one else will have the exact same pair!
