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DIY Tie Dye Denim

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Whether it be shibori or with bleach, warm weather brings out our utmost desire for tie dying – especially when it comes to bleaching as working outdoors for this project is a necessity. Inspired by Isabel Marant‘s tie dyed sweatshirts, shirts and jeans, we grabbed our favorite denim shirt and a bottle of Clorox for one of our favorite summertime projects.

You’ll need:

  • a denim shirt
  • bleach
  • rubber bands
  • rubber gloves
  • plastic container

If the shirt hasn’t already been pre-washed, run it through the washing machine first. Start binding the sleeves first. There is no right or wrong way to do this but try to keep it somewhat in an accordion-like fold so the exposed areas stay consistent.

After the sleeves are tied, crumple the body of the shirt. Bundle and reinforce with extra rubber bands.

Pour 3 quarts of bleach and 3 quarts of water into a plastic container. Using rubber or plastic gloves, place the shirt into the bleach mixture.

Let the shirt sit for approximately 15-20 minutes. If the shirt isn’t completely submerged, give it about 15 minutes on each side. Watch it carefully after the first 15 minutes – as soon as the color starts to lighten, remove it from the bleach. Snip off the rubber bands and rinse thoroughly with water.

Throw it in the dyer and your denim tie dye shirt is ready to wear!

(Paige Paloma Leggings $299, Madewell Denim Shirt $78; all images by HonestlyWTF)

105 Comments

  1. czarina    June 5, 2012

    I LOVE IT. So creative!! I want tomake this too <3

  4. Meagan    June 5, 2012

    love love love this! great idea!! so cute on you!
    xoxo Meagan
    caseofcouture.com

  6. Three Angles    June 5, 2012

    I remeber how I did such stuff when I was younger, man that was fun.

    Nice idea how you use that old method to make such a modern piece of clothing.

    Three Angles

  13. Erica    June 5, 2012

    I love it! It looks like the sun is hitting you through the trees with patches of light. So pretty!

  15. Tanya    June 5, 2012

    This bleached denim look is really trending right now, looks really summery

  19. Nomadic D    June 5, 2012

    Genius. Of course, bleach the denim, how did I not think of this before? On the other hand, bleaching my favorite denim shirt sounds scary, I think I’m going to have to go shopping for a new one and bleach that. Maybe chambray would work too…

    http://nomadic-d.blogspot.com/

  20. Andrea    June 5, 2012

    The shirt turned out great!! At first I thought you where standing in the shade of some tree and the sun was creating this pattern!! looks amazing! :)
    xo Andrea
    Wonderful and Marvelous

  22. iLaktionova    June 5, 2012

    The post is awesome!

    ilaktionova.blogspot.com

  36. Amy    June 5, 2012

    I’m becoming such a huge fan of tie dye, but I don’t know if I can part with my perfect chambray shirt!

  44. QQ    June 5, 2012

    FYI– the bleach will continue to eat away at the fabric if you do not neutralize the bleach when you are “done”. A simple way to neutralize the bleach at home is pour Hydrogen Peroxide over the entire affected area. Swirl it around, make sure it has covered and penetrated all bleach areas well. Then wash and dry the shirt regularly. Preferably alone at first so any stray bleach does not ruin anything else. If you don’t neutralize the bleach, sooner than later you will have huge holes in you shirt from where it has eaten the fibers. Not to mention, you also don’t want the residue of bleach rubbing against your skin for prolonged periods of time. Always wear gloves and cover your mouth and nose with a bandanna or mask, the bleach is toxic to breathe in and absorb through your skin!

  57. jolene    June 6, 2012

    worked out well, looks like the sun is shining through trees on the denim shirt

  67. abby    June 8, 2012

    So cool! I love how it looks like you’re standing in dappled sunlight.

  69. Alex    June 11, 2012

    looks so good! it almost looks like the trees are casting shadows on it

  72. Ruta    June 17, 2012

    I dyed my denim shirts. It turned out amazing but now they stink very much :D

  74. zar zarhay    June 18, 2012

    this is like totally hawt! ur gorg! show us them butts

  75. Catie    June 21, 2012

    I did this, & I left in the bleach a little too long, so its like super bleached w/ slight blue denim spots, but I think it looks even better!! Oh, & does anyone know how to get the bleach smell out of it? Thanks! :)

  76. shobert    June 24, 2012

    Me encanta la mpdelo hasta el punto que si no la veo

  80. natasha    August 15, 2012

    I thought they were shadows as well, i liked the original shirt, not sure about tie dye

  81. Ter    November 12, 2012

    Just FYI to people wanting to work with bleach: bleach will not stop working on your fabric just because you washed it out. It continues to slowly affect your fabric unless you use some sort of chemical to neutralize it chemically. Anti-Chlor is probably cheapest if you are using it often but there are alternatives. For more information: http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/neutralizingdischarge.shtml

  84. Alex    April 3, 2013

    I wish my mother gaved me permission to do that its awesome
    =(

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