Tie-dye with metal clips and shibori tie-dye technique

1   Wash and dry your fabric item to remove any potential residue from the manufacturing process, thus making it more receptive to colour. Fold the fabric vertically, making four vertical areas. Fold horizontally in the same fashion, ending up with a small square.

2   Place a thick piece of card (same size as the fabric square) on top of and underneath your fabric square and secure with four large metal clips; one on each side as shown in the photo. The thicker the card, the lighter the colour of the fabric after tie-dying. A tip: re-use the sides of a clean juice carton or use 2-3 layers of post cards or similar.

3   Cover the table surface with plastic and use disposable plastic gloves when tie-dying. Make a dye bath by dissolving 0.5 kg fine kitchen salt in 1 l boiling water in a tub.

4   Pour another 4 l of water into the tub so that the final temperature is between 30°C and 60°C. The warmer the water, the darker and more intense the colour. The colder the water, the lighter the colour. Add 50 ml fabric dye to the tub and 100 g fixing agent. Stir until the fixing agent is dissolved.

5   Place the folded fabric square in the dye bath and leave for 10-20 minutes. The longer you leave it in the dye bath, the darker the colour of the end result. The shorter you leave it in the dye bath, the lighter the colour of the end result.

6   Remove the fabric square from the dye bath and remove the metal clips and the card.

7   Rinse several times in cold water until the water is clean. Then wash the fabric with washing detergent in the washing machine at 40°C.

8   Experiment with the result by, for example, only folding the fabric with vertical concertina folds, attaching the metal clips at the folds without the use of card.