Tie-Dye Hawaiian Halter Top

Today concludes my 3 part series on tie-dye hula gear for summer. We made a hula skirt, onesie with lei and today I’ll show you on to transform an old tank top into a tye-die halter.

SUPPLIES

Tank Top

Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye Kit

Sewing Machine

Elastic

Scissors


This whole look was inspired by a post on Make It and Love It where the blogger made a fringed ombre skirt out of 3 different colored red shirts. This skirt inspired me to make a hula skirt for my daughter. Putting her in a plain T-shirt seemed like a shame so I tie-dyed another tank top and my sewing Goddess of a mother transformed it into a tank top.

The Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye kit is super easy to use. The package comes with dye, rubber bands, gloves and a handy dandy guide to how to bind your shirt to achieve different patterns. I used old (adult sized) tank tops to create the halter and skirt. I went with a twisty multi-colored look. Once the tank had been dyed, washed and dried I set my mother to work on making a halter top.

Cut a your tie-dyed tank top apart just under the arm holes.

Next, cut the back from the front where they are joined at the shoulders.

Finally, cut the back away where it is joined to the front under the arm holes.

This will be the halter top. Use left over arm and neck binding for the neck and back ties. Trim them close to the finished edge. Fold what is left of the shoulder around a length of the salvaged binding. Do this for each side. Do the same for the back straps.

Finish the bottom of the halter with a binding made from long, two inch strips of the left over tank top. For a better fit, run thin elastic inside the binding. Tie straps around back and neck.

I suddenly feel compelled to make the cupcake liner leis on the cover of the latest issue of Kids Crafts 1-2-3 to finish off the complete outfit.

Tie-Dye Hula Skirt Tutorial

Nothing says sumer quite like tie-dye. The bright colors, the cheery abstract designs and the ease of dying all make summer fashion fun. Always looking to set my tots apart from the rest of the playground I decided to make them Hawaiian themed tie-dye outfits. This will be a 3 part series that includes a hula skirt, tank top and onesie with leigh. First up, the hula skirt!

SUPPLIES

Old T-shirts or tank tops

Tulip One Step Tie-Dye Kits

Scissors

Sewing Machine

Let me start by saying: this was my first attempt at tie-dye. I have to say it was so stinkin' easy my 4 year old helped. We are talking wrap cloth with rubber bands, squirt with dye, go to bed, wake up and rinse, dry and wear easy. I'm totally a tie-dye convert. When selecting your material to dye, think natural. I went with some old undershirt tank tops of mine that were headed for the rag pile.

The Tulp One step Tie-Dye Kit comes with super easy to follow instructions that walk you through achieving various tie-dye patterns. I was using 3 tank tops for my shirt so I went with a braid. I used the rubber bands included in the kit to hold everything together.

Next I put my braided shirts into the sink. The kit comes with quirt bottles that all you have to do is add water. I used two kits. One had lime green and the other had blue and yellow which I combined to make another shade of green. Coat your braid making sure to A) get into the folds and B) Not over saturate. I wanted contrast so that the material would look like grass for my grass skirt.

The dye needs to sit on your material for 6-8 hours so I went to bed and let everything work it's magic. In the morning I cut my rubber bands off and popped my tanks in the washing machine. Now I just needed them to be dry so I (or my mother rather) could start sewing.

This skirt was inspired by a post I saw on Make It and Love It. Ashley made an ombre style skirt using different red shirts. I saw the fun her daughter was having twisting and turning and I knew Tallulah needed to hula. Check out her site to learn how to make your skirt. Be sure to catch the next 2 installments where I'll walk you through making a matching tie-dye halter top and a tie-dye onesie complete with leigh for little brother.