Double Sided Tie Dye: Frog & Dragonfly

I think it's fair to say I'm obsessed with tie dye. I have been experimenting for about a year with the idea of two designs on one shirt. My latest creation is this Frog & Dragonfly shirt.

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I am going to assume that you have some experience in tie dye and know how to do it. If not, I suggest you click on over to this Instructable to learn how. Bit of me trivia, this is exactly how I found Instructables and how I learned to tie dye.

I always use Procion Fiber Reactive Dye from the Dharma Trading Company. The colors look amazing, there is a great selection, and they don't fade. I don't waste my time with anything else.

Supplies:

Everything you need to tie dye, plus.....

Dental Floss

Washable markers

Small rubberbands

Sewing needle.

1.) Draw a line directly down the center of the front of your shirt.

2.) Draw half of your Frog.

3.) Fold the shirt along the line you created. This will create a mirror image when you are done.

4.) Using the dental floss, create an over-under stitch along your shapes.

The Frog has eight shapes. There is a large circle for the eye, a medium circle for the eye and the small pupil. There is a mouth, the nostrils, the belly, the frog body and the leg.

For the eye circles, you will start and finish your stitching in the same spot. However, for the shapes that are on the fold, you will start on one side and finish on the other. Let's use the Frog's belly as an example. Start the stitching on the bottom of the belly and finish stitching near the mouth. You do not need to stitch down the fold line.

Treat the leg as a separate shape. Make sure to stitch the entire leg even though part of it will be next to the body stitching. This will help to define the leg in the finished product.

The Frog's mouth is stitched in a different way. First fold the shirt along the line you drew for the mouth and then stitch together. You will be stitching four folds of fabric.

5.) Stitch all the shapes but do not gather or rubber band them. If you try to gather your shapes on one side before doing stitching on the other side, the second side will not lay flat and your design will not work.

6.) Once you have all the shapes stitched, front and back, then you will grab both ends of your floss for one shape and gather that shape together. Make the lines as straight as possible and then place a rubber band around your gathers. Leave the floss in, but you may trim the excess. Leave a two inch tail.

You will repeat the exact same process as the Frog. The Dragonfly has six shapes. The head, eye, antenna, body, and two wings.

The antenna is stitched in the same way as the Frog's mouth.

Start to gather and rubber band with the smallest shapes first.

For instance, rubber band the pupil, then the middle circle shape and finally the larger outer circle.

Rubber band the nostril, mouth and stomach. Then the body and the leg.

For the Dragonfly, rubber band the antenna, eye and then the head. Next the body and lastly the wings.

Let your shirt sit for 24 hours. Rinse until water runs clear and then place shirt in the dryer.

That's it.