Patterns on clothing obtained using the Chinese tai dai technique. It's time to tie it up: How the favorite hippie tie-dye pattern returned to men's fashion Tie-dye technique for painting walls

The tai dai technique itself dates back hundreds of years and its homeland is Ancient India and China. The hippie movement of the last century inspired it new life and now many modern clothing brands use this technique for painting manufactured products. However, you can save on buying a precious branded T-shirt and easily create a masterpiece of modern technology at home.

Variety of patterns

There are as many opinions and as many options for coloring clothes using the tie-dye technique for as many people as there are. We are talking about options for purchasing patterns, and the colors of the paints, their saturation and mixing with each other can be all sorts.

Here are some of them, starting with the most famous:

  • spiral - to acquire this classic and most famous tie-dye T-shirt pattern, you need to lay out the clothes on a flat surface, and then place your large finger in the center and, helping with your index fingers, begin to wrap it in a circle. Secure the resulting pattern with threads or rubber bands;
  • vertical or horizontal stripes - for this, the T-shirt must also be laid out on a flat surface and rolled into a tube, starting from the bottom. Use rubber bands to grab it in several places. Their number will determine the number of horizontal stripes on the clothing. If you roll the T-shirt into a tube not from the bottom, but from some side, you can get a pattern with vertical stripes;
  • polka dots - this pattern is very easy to obtain, just use an elastic band to grab small tucks on the T-shirt in random places. If you twist them a little according to the thesis of a spiral, you will get several circles of the corresponding shape;
  • How to make a tie-dye T-shirt using a technique that involves placing a rose-shaped pattern on it? To do this, you need to make three pintucks next to each other and combine them together with an elastic band. The more pintucks you have, the more detailed the rosette will be;
  • if you don’t know what pattern you want to get, simply crumple the T-shirt into a ball and wrap it with elastic bands. You will end up with a bruised result;
  • folds - to create folds, the T-shirt must be folded into a fan shape. As a result, you will get horizontal or vertical stripes, as in the second type;
  • zipper - this technique for tie dye clothing is considered one of the most difficult. To acquire a zipper pattern, it must be folded in half and across, so that the fold line passes through the center of the neck. Now make two folds so that its seams form the letter “i”. You can make several such layers or folds, the main thing is to maintain a distance of 5 cm between them. Don’t forget to grab the product with elastic bands: the larger they are, the more detailed the zipper will be.

We dye clothes using the tie dye technique

To paint at home, you will need a plastic container or basin, the paints themselves and salt. Textile paints can be bought at any specialized store, although some users successfully paint things using regular acrylic paints.

If you plan to work with several colors, you will need the appropriate number of containers; otherwise, you will have to rinse the basin every time and add a new solution.

Follow the following algorithm:

  • Dilute the dye according to the instructions and add a tablespoon of salt to it, which will help it adhere better to the fabric. Please note that the more water you add to the container, the paler the color will be;
  • After drawing the paint into a syringe or lightly dipping a brush into it, apply the design to the fabric. If there is neither one nor the other, the solution can be easily poured onto the fabric. If you plan to use another color of the coloring solution, proceed in the same way;
  • Leave the T-shirt to dry for one day: this is necessary to finally fix the design on the fabric;
  • Now all that remains is to wash the product in warm water and dry it at room temperature.

Interesting patterns and brilliant prophetic!

Tie-Dye patterns look incredibly rich and bright, which attracts young people. This is a great way to show individuality, uniqueness and rebellious spirit. The tie-dye style, which made its debut many years ago, is still relevant today.

A print with a rich history

This mysterious word combines several techniques for dyeing fabric, which are based on wrapping, stitching, compressing or folding it. Tai-Dai painting, which is fashionable today, takes its roots in Japanese culture. This technique became widespread in India, where a similar method of textile ornamentation was called knot dyeing. In Africa, China and eastern countries, the Tai-Dai technique for decorating clothes was also widely used, and in the USA it was popularized by representatives of the hippie subculture in the early seventies of the last millennium. It was here that this method of decorating fabric, originally called “shibori” (in the incorrect English translation “shibori”), acquired its modern name. It translates as “tie - dye”, which fully reflects the essence of the technique itself. A few years later, the Tie-Dye print penetrated into the territory of the USSR countries. The very first “swallows” were those brought by Soviet business travelers, and then resourceful fashionistas and fashionistas learned to reproduce on their own. Denim clothes were simply boiled in boiling water to achieve the desired effect. It is worth noting that it was very difficult to predict the result in advance. Dying clothes and textiles made from natural cotton fabrics in rainbow colors that merge with each other to form a psychedelic, cheerful print is today a modern version of a classic dyeing method that has roots in different cultures around the world.

Fashionable clothes in the style of tie-dye

Perhaps the most striking manifestation of the tie-dye style in modern fashion are T-shirts, popularized by American hippies. And today they remind us of a fun time that brought noticeable changes to the life of the planet. A Tie-Dye T-shirt combined with wide jeans, sneakers and decorated with fringe allows you to create a unique image in an ethnic style that exudes freedom, love of life and energy. The uniqueness of such things lies in their uniqueness, since even in industrial conditions it is difficult to tie a knot twice for dyeing so that the pattern turns out the same. What can we say about dyeing things at home?

DIY Tie-Dye

T-shirts, bandanas, scarves and T-shirts using the Tie-Dye technique are easy to make at home. All you need is the product itself, made of natural fabric (cotton, silk, linen), fabric paint, elastic band or thread, brush or cotton pad. You can dye a T-shirt dry or wet. In the first case, the border between colors will be more pronounced, and in the second, blurred. After tying arbitrary knots on the product, forming folds or simply crumpling it, secure it with threads or elastic bands. Then, having prepared the solution for staining according to the instructions, apply the paint. After waiting a few minutes, you need to rinse the T-shirt in water at room temperature. It should be dried without removing the rubber bands. When the T-shirt is dry, all that remains is to remove the fasteners and iron it. The tie-dye effect will amaze with its originality and uniqueness, and an ordinary T-shirt will take on a new life!

The hippie era in relation to men's style is a very controversial source of inspiration - flared jeans, silk trousers, bandanas and other attributes are clearly inferior in coolness to work clothes or the brutal leather aesthetics of bikers. But times pass, changing trends influence the tastes of entire generations, and it is likely that after some time we will be able to see another hippie revival.

Today, the editors of FURFUR will review perhaps one of the most interesting elements of hippie aesthetics - the multi-color tie-dye textile dyeing technique, which unexpectedly returned to the collections of men's brands this spring.

What is tie-dye?

The tie-dye process can be relatively simple or require quite labor-intensive operations. And the result, by the way, does not necessarily have to be a psychedelic spiral of the rainbow spectrum. The bottom line is that before dyeing, areas of the fabric are “closed” from paint, and in a variety of ways - the fabric can be folded, twisted, tied, embroidered on it, secured with rivets or other improvised means, there is even the option of protecting the desired areas with wax. Actually, the ornament appears after painting, when the reserve is removed from clean areas, which contrast with the freshly painted ones.

History of the pattern

Of course, it would be a gross oversimplification to say that tie-dye first appeared in the 1960s. In fact, tie-dye is one of the oldest known methods of hand-dying fabric. Artifacts associated with this technique were found at one time on almost all continents, and historians have established that in the territory of modern Peru, as well as on the other side of the world - in Japan, this method of coloring was used back in the 8th-9th centuries AD.

1. An example of the Japanese shibori pattern. 2. Shibori on denim originally dyed indigo. 3. Fabric in the process of dyeing in Shibori. 4. Tie-dye without twisting the fabric into a spiral is a more intricate option. 5. A hippie classic - a T-shirt twisted into a spiral and tie-dyed.

The Japanese, by the way, as always, turned out to be the most sophisticated craftsmen and invented their own sophisticated tie-dying method - shibori. The complexity of the process lay in the fact that even before the dyeing stage, patterns were sewn onto the fabric using different (depending on its type) techniques. Or, for example, undyed fabric was tightly wound around a rope or other embossed object and “rolled” over the paint, leaving tightly pressed areas untouched. These and many other shibori techniques were used to make kimonos for the nobility and upper classes of the empire.

Tie-dyeand hippies

It is believed that the fashion for tie-dye swept the hippie culture after a wave of trips to West Africa, where exalted Americans, in addition to all other attributes of naturalness and closeness to nature, adopted this technique from the aborigines.

It is quite possible that this was the case, but for the first time the features of tie-dye were told and demonstrated back in 1909 by Columbia University professor Charles Pellow, so this technique cannot be called hippie know-how.


Cover of Tie-Died, a documentary about the Grateful Dead tour.

Be that as it may, already in the 1960s, at the instigation of trendsetters like Janis Joplin and John Sebastian, tie-dye became a real obsession. Using this technique, long-haired hippies painted almost everything - T-shirts, jeans, M-65 jackets and their Volkswagens. By the way, the dramatic story of a small economic miracle is also connected with tie-dye - having learned about the new fashion, Don Price, a marketer for the company that produced household dyes RIT, which was in a very difficult situation, began literally walking door to door in Greenwich Village, offering young people his products, and soon RIT became one of the symbols of the hippie era and the most popular series of dyes in the USA.

Janis Joplin

Tie-dye today

By the spring season, not only street brands like , and , but also brands that are not characterized by hippie aesthetics and such color boldness managed to release several items with tie-dye prints. And that says a lot. Quite conservative Americans (that very special unit for producing pants for pensioners) suddenly created a capsule collection, frivolously decorating their classic slacks and T-shirts.

Watching the men's shows this year, it's hard not to notice one common trend - tie-dye clothing. There is nothing new in this technique. If you look at old photographs of your parents, you can see something similar. But this year we can clearly see the return of psychedelic patterns to men's fashion.

Of course, things painted in this way, in the vast majority of cases, will be associated with hippie aesthetics, cheapness and stubbornness, but even here you can find a loophole - for example, tie-dye T-shirts in a light pastel spectrum look neutral, more complex ethnic patterns (that Japanese shibori) do not raise any questions at all, and even if socks painted in a psychedelic spiral fit quite adequately into the space between sneakers and lapels of monotonous chinos, as long as they are not too bright.

Tie-Dye style consists of creating unusual patterns using paints. The colors can be very varied, as well as the wall covering. This idea originated many years ago in ancient India, and was developed for dyeing fabric. Now this technique is used to paint walls to add variety. There are several types of this design, which we will consider in more detail.

Tie-Dye on the wall

This option involves spraying paint. The paint is applied to the wall with chaotic movements, after which it is smeared with an ordinary roller, giving the shape of stripes or unusual patterns. You can take a variety of shades, the main thing is that they are combined with each other. Also, the paint can be applied with a brush, and then smeared with a roller. Remember, there are no strict lines in this technique, so the more chaotic the movements, the more refined the result will be.


Painting wallpaper using the tie-dye technique

There are also several painting options here. You can immediately paint the wallpaper before gluing it. To do this, you need to crumple one strip of wallpaper and place it in a container with paint; after the paint has dried, the wallpaper is applied to the wall. You can also paint already pasted wallpaper. The base is moistened with water, after which the paint is applied using splashing movements. If this style is used, then the wallpaper should be paintable.


Dyeing fabric using the tie-dye technique

This is a classic option, because this technique was developed specifically for fabrics. First you need to mix several paints, following the manufacturer's recommendations. Next, the fabric is twisted into a spiral and placed in paint; after you unroll the textile, original patterns are obtained. This option can be used for dyeing curtains, bedspreads or bed linen. For textiles you can use a large number of bright colors.



The interior can be decorated thanks to the tie-dye style. Prepare a beautiful frame of the desired size and canvas. Can be used as a canvas white fabric. Dyeing is done in the standard way by crumpling the fabric, using a spiral or simply randomly. There are a lot of ideas in this version, you just need to use your imagination. Let's say if the fabric was dyed in brown shades, then just draw small camels, you get a desert effect. You can draw a sailing boat using blue shades. Small additions to a painting decorated in the Tie-Dye style will add even more sophistication and originality.

The tai dai technique itself dates back hundreds of years and its homeland is Ancient India and China. The hippie movement in the last century breathed new life into it, and now many modern clothing brands use this technique to dye their products. However, you can save on buying an expensive branded T-shirt and easily create a masterpiece of famous technology at home.

Variety of patterns

There are as many opinions and as many options for coloring clothes using the tie dye technique. We are talking about options for obtaining patterns, and the colors of the paints, their concentration and mixing with each other can be any.

Here are some of them, starting with the most popular:


  • spiral - to get this classic and most popular tie dye t-shirt pattern, you need to lay out the clothing on a flat surface, and then place your thumb in the center and, helping with your index finger, begin to wrap it in a circle. Secure the resulting pattern with threads or rubber bands;
  • vertical or horizontal stripes - for this, the T-shirt must also be laid out on a flat surface and rolled into a tube, starting from the bottom. Use rubber bands to grab it in several places. Their number will determine the number of horizontal stripes on the clothing. If you roll a T-shirt into a tube not from the bottom, but from one side, you can get a pattern with vertical stripes;
  • polka dots - this pattern is very easy to obtain; just use an elastic band to grab small tucks on the T-shirt in any random places. If you twist them a little like a spiral, you will get several circles of the appropriate shape;
  • How to make a tie-dye T-shirt using a technique that involves placing a rose-shaped pattern on it? To do this, you need to make three pintucks next to each other and connect them together with an elastic band. The more pintucks you have, the more detailed the rosette will be;
  • If you don't know what pattern you want, just scrunch the T-shirt into a ball and wrap it with elastic bands. As a result, you will get a bruised effect;
  • folds – to create folds, the T-shirt must be folded into a fan shape. As a result, you will get horizontal or vertical stripes, as in the second type;
  • zipper - this technique for tie dye clothing is considered one of the most difficult. To obtain a zipper pattern, you need to fold it in half and lengthwise so that the fold line passes through the center of the neck. Now make two folds so that its seams form the letter “i”. You can make several such layers or folds, the main thing is that a distance of 5 cm is maintained between them. Don’t forget to grab the product with elastic bands: the more of them there are, the more detailed the zipper will be.

We dye clothes using the tie dye technique

To paint at home, you will need a plastic container or basin, the paints themselves and salt. Textile paints can be purchased at any specialty store, although some users successfully paint things using ordinary acrylic paints.

If you plan to work with several colors, you will need the appropriate number of containers, otherwise you will have to rinse the bowl and add a new solution each time.

Proceed according to the following algorithm:

  • Dilute the dye according to the instructions and add a tablespoon of salt to it, which will help it adhere better to the fabric. Please note that the more water you add to the container, the paler the color will be;
  • By drawing paint into a syringe or simply dipping a brush into it, apply the design to the fabric. If there is neither one nor the other, the solution can simply be poured onto the fabric. If you plan to use another color of the coloring solution, proceed in the same way;
  • Leave the T-shirt to dry for one day: this is necessary to finally fix the design on the fabric;
  • Now all that remains is to wash the product in warm water and dry it at room temperature.

Interesting patterns and bright things for you!



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