Tie Dye Shirts at Davidson Fine Art

All tie dye shirts are made in house by our artist,  Tara. Our styles range from spirals, stripes, starbursts and more! We carry kid’s sizes all the way up to adult 3XL. All of our shirts are unisex, and have been rinsed with water prior to hanging, but have NOT gone through a detergent wash in a machine. Some shrinking and light fading may occur over time.

Custom ordering for tie dyes is available as well as bringing in your own items for tie dying. If you are bringing in your own shirt/dress/etc to be dyed, we ask that you make sure it is white, 100% cotton, and washed prior to being brought in to be dyed. Be wary of bleaching items to be dyed, because it can be very damaging for the fabric! Turnaround time for custom orders is about 4-7 days, and prices vary depending on the size of the item, quantity of items and amount of dye need. Call or come into the store to discuss prices.

Questions:

Q: Why do you make tie dye shirts?

A: We make tie dye shirts because they are colorful and expressive and we think they “tie” well into our shops 1960’s theme.

Q: Are any two shirts alike?

A: Not really! We can do our best to make shirts using similar colors and a similar pattern, but each shirt comes out unique and slightly different from the last.

Q: What is your process for dying the shirts?

 A: Typically we start by tying the shirts dry into the shapes we need (pinching in the middle for spirals, scrunching for stripes, etc) and securing them with rubber bands. Next, we soak the tied shirts in a solution of soda ash and water. Soda ash is a mild alkali that promotes the chemical reaction between the fiber reactive dye and cellulose fiber (to put it plainly, it helps the dye adhere better to the cotton fabric and keeps the dye brighter and on the fabric longer). We let the shirts soak from 2-12 hours in that solution until we are ready to dye. Dying the shirts can take from 2-4 hours depending on the amount of shirts we are dying and their size. Once dyed, the shirts sit overnight (12 hours) and are rinsed and hang dried outside our shop and ready to be sold the next day!