Tie-Dye Date

How often do you get to wear something that you made together? Here's a cool way to have lots of fun as you tie, dye, and giggle yourselves silly. We're talking a multi-colored, textile momento to the stains you make together.

All you need is a simple tie-dye kit and a couple of 100% cotton shirts and you are ready to start. May we also suggest a pitcher of margaritas, given how it will help ease you into the proper state of tie-dye consciousness. (There are even more effective ways of easing you into a state of tie-dye consciousness, but they carry a jail sentence in most parts of the country.)

Tie-dye kits are reasonably priced. Usually they only come with three colors, so you may want to purchase a few extra colors. You can get them from your local craft and hobby store, or from the companies we list.

If you don't like the kit idea and are brave souls, try buying a book on tie dying. It will explain what you'll need to know and how to do it. You can purchase all of the items from a craft or hobby store.

This is a messy project, so wear old clothes. And if you do splash some blue, green or yellow where you shouldn't, consider taking off all of your clothes and immediately hopping into the shower together. From what we can remember, this was the whole point of the tie-dye craze back in the late 1960s.

By the way, you don't have to just tie dye shirts. Other potential victims—ah, items—include napkins, placemats, aprons, pillow cases, sheets, drapes and even your underwear. Anything that is 100% cotton can be tie dyed.

COST

Kits start at about $12.50 but they don't include the shirts. You can get shirts for $4.00 to $7.00 each, and extra dye colors will set you back a few dollars each.

WHERE TO GET THE KITS

Most craft and hobby shops have tie-dye kits and books on the subject. For some great tie-dye resources, try these companies:

The Dharma Trading Company at www.dharmatrading.com or phone (800)542-5227.

Dyed in Vermont at wwww.tie-dyes.com or phone (802) 649-1836.

Tie-Dye Artist Paula Burch's excellent and very helpful website is at www.pburch.net/.

BOOKS TO DYE FOR

Batik and Tie-Dye Technique by Nancy Belfer; $9.95.

Tie-Dye, Back By Popular Demand by Virgina Gleser; $12.95. From bookstores or from their website at www.harmonytie-dyes.com, or phone them at (209) 571-2767.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• A tie-dye kit and something to tie dye that is 100% cotton.
• A plastic sheet or garbage bags to cover the work area.
• Buckets, bowls or containers; you'll need one for each color.

PREP TIME AND TIPS

Give yourself an hour to buy the kit in person or twenty minutes to order it over the internet. You'll also need to buy some 100% cotton tee-shirts or anything else you plan to throw into the tie-dye time machine. Be sure to wear rubber gloves or you will have very colorful hands. Tie your designs on the front and back of the shirt separately. The tighter you do the rubber band or string around the fabric, the crisper the lines of your design will be. To create softer gradations of color, use looser ties.

The only downer about this date, besides the possible hangover and brightly-colored skin, is that you have to leave the shirts tied-up overnight. You don't get to see the spoils of your dying until the morning after.