Search - Tie Dye 101: The Basics of Making Exceptional Tie Dye on DVD

More than the basics

Mr. Tie Dye | Cartersville, Ga | 05/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I first started tie-dying, the only resources I could find were books and various tutorials on the web. I took what I learned and added my own flavor to create some really nice looking tie-dyes. I assumed that my technique was the generally accepted technique, as most resources had pretty much the same info. I also assumed that the really outstanding tie-dyes were either air-brushed or created in a factory.

After watching Tie Dye 101, I realized how very little I actually knew about tie-dye. The process detailed in this dvd blows away any technique I could have learned elsewhere. It goes into great detail on the entire process, from mixing chemicals to folding and dying the shirts. It doesn't matter if you are brand new to tie-dye, or have been tie-dying since the 60's, this video will become an invaluable resource for you.

I know what you are thinking. "I know how to mix the chemicals. I know how to fold and dye shirts." Yes, and so did I. But there is so much more to this DVD than that. It will completely change the way you tie-dye. You will make tie-dyes faster and easier than you ever thought possible. If you want to make serious tie-dyes, order this video NOW. It will become the center of all of your tie-dye knowledge."

EXCELLENT material, though presentation is somewhat amateur

Mother of Sons | 04/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some background on myself: I have enjoyed tie dye as a hobby, but have probably dyed fewer than 20 shirts. Now that my sons are older (10 and 12), I thought I would include them more in this hobby than I have in past years. So we bought this DVD to watch together as a preview to the activity.

Here are my thoughts on the DVD:

The material is very clearly presented. No step is skimmed over (for instance, they will say "Next add 3 tablespoons of dye powder," and will be shown measuring and adding tablespoon 1, tablespoon 2, and tablespoon 3 of the dye powder.)

The two presenters are standing at a work table facing the cameras, as teachers might stand in front of a class. They are clearly reading from an overhead projector, and look very poker-faced most of the time. A few times at the start of a new section it seems they have been reminded to smile. The kids and I had some good chuckles over the presentation style.

There is one bizzare place in the DVD where the female presenter is giving instruction on diluting dye solution (or something like that) and the male presenter is shown with a thought bubble in which he is picturing the female presenter prancing around in a tie dyed bikini. I could have done without that...

Overall, I got some good new ideas for materials which would simplify the workspace, and learned techniques for folding and applying colour that I did not know before, despite having read numerous books on the subject."

A must have edition to every Tie Dyers Library....

Suzanne Richmond | Melbourne, Florida | 05/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tom and Martine have done a wonderful job illustrating their long time,earned experience with the wonderful and colorful process of tie dyeing. I am a tie dyer myself, have seen other videos on the market, and this is the best. I have learned a lot from them. Their presentation, format, explanation, funky music score, illustration of the process with a speeded up review at the end of each lesson is really fun to watch and helps you learn it and remember it. And then theres the bloopers and inserts...too funny! I highly recommend to any new tie dyer to get this and learn it right. I also recommend it to seasoned dyers as Tom and Martine make some very good points about chemistry to achieve optimum results. As far as tie patterns go, they are wonderful, gorgeous and brilliant. Better than a class as you can view the DVD over and over again.
TIE DYE LIVES !!! And more and more people are appreciating it for the art form that it is. Thanks Tom and Martine for educating us in how to get the primo results we all love to see.
You can't be depressed and wear tie dye!

Suzanne Richmond
Diva Dyes
Melbourne, Florida"

Heavily padded video, very little true content

J. Faraco | Menlo Park, CA United States | 06/09/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I was rather disappointed overall with this video. I have experience doing tie dying and had hoped that I would learn new twists and folds. Unfortunately, a huge amount of time is devoted to methods on mixing dye etc. I would appreciate a thorough description and introduction, but this is presented slowly with tons of repetition leaving me with the feeling that they simply padded and padded to make it seem that the video was a respectable length. There was an insane amount of irrelevant detail. It's possible that their unique suggestions to add kelp and other additives to the dyes make a difference in the final product- but they do not discuss why they suggest these additions, or what effect they have. My experience with these dyes is that mixing with water produces a great result, and I wonder why they have needed to "improve" upon the manufacturer's recommendations.

As far as the folding, they present only three variations: crumple, V-fold, and simple spiral. I had hoped to see more interesting designs- sorry, the V fold is just too 60's and I would just never imagine wearing anything V-folded.

On the positive side, they do give some very nice descriptions of counterstaining, and show how to get a very different effect by drying the shirts after binding them up and soaking in sodium carbonate. That's why I give it a full two stars. There were at least 10-15 minutes that I found useful and informative beyond what I can see for free on YouTube. I found it very instructive to look at their process and the final projects and got inspired on how to do my own versions.

The section on washout was again unnecessarily complex. A simple hose-off on the front lawn before a cold wash is really enough to provide vibrant colors with no bleeding. You don't really need to crank up the heat on your water heater, add synthropol and rinse in blazing hot water for 30 seconds as they suggest. Their trouble shooting addressed problematic specks of unwanted colors showing up. This turns out to be a side effect of dye precipitation from storing dye on ice- A problem caused by their own recommended pet technique of holding dyes on ice, or in a cooler. Again, this is unnecessary.

The production values on the video were typical of what a grade school kid would produce. Sound varied widely from way to loud to much too quiet. These guys are tie dye artisans, and I didn't expect them to be actors, but it was very unexpected to see them present their craft in such an utterly lifeless way- no emotion, no spark, no enthusiasm, no interest really- just reading from their script with monotone voices."