Tie dyed socks

Tie dyeing is fun, the surprise effects and the one off patterns of randomly tying the elastic is really enjoyable. I have been thinking about tie dying children's socks for awhile and yesterday I had ago with some left over red and blue dye. I  am really pleased with the results.

I started with white cotton socks

I randomly wrapped elastic bands onto the pairs to create tie dye patterns

Here is my little helper with some of the equipment used: troughs, salt and dyes

The tie dyed socks were placed in the dye baths

The colour was taken up very quickly and I didn't keep the socks in for long, about ten minutes.

I then undid the elastic bands 

The colour looks vibrant but to have a vibrant colour you need to dye for longer and use more dye, I expected the final colour to be much lighter after the rinse and wash.

The socks were rinsed in a bucket of cold water to remove excess dye, then put into the washing machine for a wash at 30 degrees with washing liquid and dried overnight on a rack.

Here is the end result.

Sweet, candy floss and raspberry ripple and  blueberry shades created with red and blue dye.

I am thinking of making some more and putting them in my folksy shop and maybe even having a stall at the school's summer fayre.