Need a child-sized tie dye T-shirt on short notice

[bcla]

Any thoughts? My kid's school is having a tie dye day for this Friday and it was only announced yesterday. I mostly work from home and can take a little time off when I need to, so we went to the place I figured I should be able to find one - Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. I'd bought one from a street vendor there years ago for myself, as well as several child sized ones when my kid was younger. At 9 years old the 2-4T shirt isn't going to fit and I can't find it. There were hardly any of the usual array of street vendors. I figure they only come out in force on weekends since it's still winter. I checked out the various clothing stores in the area. Some had tie dye, but only in adult sizes.

I was also able to find my old T-shirt, but it's an adult male XL. My kid tried it on and it does seem to be cute in the "wearing dad's clothes" way.

I thought about Amazon, but they won't be able to deliver in time. Plenty of sellers on etsy, but that also runs into the time issue.

Any kind of national retailer might have something like that in kid's sizes? I'm even OK if it's not real tie dye but a sublimated print. I remember we were talking about tie dye as a bike jersey for our cycling team, which seemed appropriate.

How hard is DIY tie dye.? I can find kits at Jo-Ann or Michaels along with white cotton T-shirts. A Tulip brand mini-kit with two bottles is $4.49. But I'm not sure if I can do it in one day unless it's maybe just one or two colors.

 

[gwynne]

I'd talk to other parents first. What are they doing to provide a shirt with no notice? Do they have a great source?

 

[Jennasis]

Is there a local Goodwill?

 

[mjkacmom]

I’d borrow.

 

[DuskKodesh]

I dunno if you want to go that route but DIY tie dye is super easy. I buy thrift store clothes and bleach/dye them all the time. It can also look really good with just one or two complementary colors like yellow and red will bleed orange so you get a fire look. I'd maybe buy the DIY kit that comes with colors you like and a few cheap shirts so you can choose the best looking one after. Just be aware that it is VERY easy to stain your floors, counters.... skin. So have a dedicated work area and make sure you set the dye or when you toss it in the washer it'll dye EVERYTHING in that load. Always set the dye then give it a wash by itself.

 

[design_mom]

Tie dying is easy. There are lots of youtube videos for techniques. You can do it in one evening, but your homemade tie-dye will probably not be as vibrant as the professional ones you buy. If your child is OK with wearing your shirt, then I'd probably just have him/her wear yours and save yourself the trouble (it's easy, but messy.)

I dislike these last-minute "fun days" at school that involve parents running around to try to find the right stuff so their kids can participate. My kids rarely had a "favorite team jersey" or "crazy socks" to wear on spur of the moment.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Easy to tie-dye. Just some clothing dye (Rit is available nationally), rubber bands, salt, and vinegar and you can do from 1 color to multitudes.
Here's an easy peasy do it yourself version:

https://www.ritdye.com/2019/07/22/tie-dyed-button-down-shirt/
ETA: you can also do a sponge version w/o rubberbands if you need it fastfastfast.

 

[bcla]

I dunno if you want to go that route but DIY tie dye is super easy. I buy thrift store clothes and bleach/dye them all the time. It can also look really good with just one or two complementary colors like yellow and red will bleed orange so you get a fire look. I'd maybe buy the DIY kit that comes with colors you like and a few cheap shirts so you can choose the best looking one after. Just be aware that it is VERY easy to stain your floors, counters.... skin. So have a dedicated work area and make sure you set the dye or when you toss it in the washer it'll dye EVERYTHING in that load. Always set the dye then give it a wash by itself.

I looked at the various DIY instructions and it doesn't look that hard, but looks like it 's likely to make a huge mess. The instructions on the Tulip website showed it being done on a picnic table that seems to be used for various messy craft projects. Also - they state that it should be set aside in a plastic bag for at least 8 hours and preferably 24 hours. When I've purchased one with relatively unstable colors, the seller said they had washed it twice and they recommended washing again before wearing.

I personally wash my tie dye by hand - at least the ones with any red or purple in it. I have an old tie dye school logo T-shirt with blue/yellow colors, and that's actually quite stable in the wash (if I could still find it).

I'm still kind of wondering why I couldn't find any in Berkeley. That used to be a staple of the Telegraph Ave street vendor scene. When I was a student and even years later I could walk there and see at least three different vendors with all sizes of tie dye t-shirts, tanks, etc.

I've been looking around and maybe Party City or Kohl's might have them.

 

[BrianL]

I'd talk to other parents first. What are they doing to provide a shirt with no notice? Do they have a great source?

The OP lives in the SF area - it may have been assumed that everyone has tie-dye!

I'm still kind of wondering why I couldn't find any in Berkeley. That used to be a staple of the Telegraph Ave street vendor scene. When I was a student and even years later I could walk there and see at least three different vendors with all sizes of tie dye t-shirts, tanks, etc.

Oh, the times, they are a-changin'!

 

[NYCgrrl]

I tie dyed in my apartment kitchen; no huge mess needed or picnic table either, LOL.
Still, if you can find it at Party City or Kohl's, why not?

 

[J'aime Paris]

Any thoughts? My kid's school is having a tie dye day for this Friday and it was only announced yesterday. I mostly work from home and can take a little time off when I need to, so we went to the place I figured I should be able to find one - Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. I'd bought one from a street vendor there years ago for myself, as well as several child sized ones when my kid was younger. At 9 years old the 2-4T shirt isn't going to fit and I can't find it. There were hardly any of the usual array of street vendors. I figure they only come out in force on weekends since it's still winter. I checked out the various clothing stores in the area. Some had tie dye, but only in adult sizes.

I was also able to find my old T-shirt, but it's an adult male XL. My kid tried it on and it's does seem to be cute in the "wearing dad's clothes" way.

I thought about Amazon, but they won't be able to deliver in time. Plenty of sellers on etsy, but also runs into the time issue.

Any kind of national retailer might have something like that in kid's sizes? I'm even OK if it's not real tie dye but a sublimated print. I remember we were talking about tie dye as a bike jersey for our cycling team, which seemed appropriate.

How hard is DIY tie dye.? I can find kits at Jo-Ann or Michaels along with white cotton T-shirts. A Tulip brand mini-kit with two bottles is $4.49. But I'm not sure if I can do it in one day unless it's maybe just one or two colors.

DYI tie dye isn't difficult, but I think your time crunch makes it less doable. The tie dye needs to set into a shirt, and if you need it by tomorrow...that's not a lot of time.

You mentioned that you have an old shirt in an XL. What about cutting it up to make a 'new/cute' shirt? The only supply you'll need is a scissor. And it's a popular thing to do for the "kids" these days. There are a bunch of YouTube videos on how its done.

Good luck!

 

[bcla]

DYI tie dye isn't difficult, but I think your time crunch makes it less doable. The tie dye needs to set into a shirt, and if you need it by tomorrow...that's not a lot of time.

You mentioned that you have an old shirt in an XL. What about cutting it up to make a 'new/cute' shirt? The only supply you'll need is a scissor. And it's a popular thing to do for the "kids" these days. There are a bunch of YouTube videos on how its done.

Good luck!

Nah - the T-shirt is still in good condition. I've had it for more than a decade but other than the tags fading it looks new. I'm not going to sacrifice it and in any case we don't have a sewing machine.

I looked at Target and the website says that there's limited stock of this one at a few nearby stores:

https://www.target.com/p/boys-tie-dye-sweatshirt-art-class-blue-white/-/A-77642825
Of course there's no way of knowing what it really looks like since every piece will be different. I'll wait until my kid is home and maybe we'll go take a look to see if they have it, how it fits, etc. It seems like a nice item to have anyways.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Goodwill or your re-sale store of choice. I've gotten some at Kohl's in the past, too.

 

[design_mom]

I looked at Target and the website says that there's limited stock of this one at a few nearby stores:

Good luck. I hope they have it. At my local Target, "limited stock" seems to be code for "I don't know why it says that. We don't have any."

 

[VandVsmama]

With such short notice like that, I have been known to send my kids to school not participating in whatever the stupid dress up day theme is. Like the year when they decided that all of the kids in the grade should wear orange t-shirts. WHO HAS AN ORANGE T-SHIRT JUST LAYING AROUND?! LOL

 

[bcla]

With such short notice like that, I have been known to send my kids to school not participating in whatever the stupid dress up day theme is. Like the year when they decided that all of the kids in the grade should wear orange t-shirts. WHO HAS AN ORANGE T-SHIRT JUST LAYING AROUND?! LOL

My kid has freaked out when we forgot something like PJ day. Often these are class rewards, although this one doesn't seem to be that.

 

[PollyannaMom]

If you can't find one, grab a plain white T-shirt and let him have at it with Sharpies! (You can even write "As close as I get to Tie-dye!" on it if you want to.)

Another alternative is bleach-out. Take a plain color (not white) T-shirt, and put some bleach in a spray bottle. Wherever the bleach hits will fade out. This is obviously also best done under mess-controlled circumstances, but it will need much less setting time than regular Tie-Dye. (If you don't want the design to go through to the back, put a piece of cardboard inside.)

 

[bcla]

If you can't find one, grab a plain white T-shirt and let him have at it with Sharpies! (You can even write "As close as I get to Tie-dye!" on it if you want to.)

Another alternative is bleach-out. Take a plain color (not white) T-shirt, and put some bleach in a spray bottle. Wherever the bleach hits will fade out. This is obviously also best done under mess-controlled circumstances, but it will need much less setting time than regular Tie-Dye. (If you don't want the design to go through to the back, put a piece of cardboard inside.)

That might work better since the bleach can be rinsed out pretty quickly and isn't going to bleed out when washed as long as the dye is stable.

 

[DuskKodesh]

Good luck. I hope they have it. At my local Target, "limited stock" seems to be code for "I don't know why it says that. We don't have any."

The stock system lies It is a dirty dirty liar. Inventory is in fall, and temps are hired for the holidays so by the time Jan. rolls around the counts on everything are off and stay off until fall when we can correct them again. This is always a huge issue as there's always at least one big item on clearance after Xmas that the computer will say we have in the store that doesn't actually exist.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Target or Walmart may have them. Try Old Navy too. Not sure your child’s gender but check both the girls and boys section. And Party City is also a good idea. I’m pretty sure they’ve had them in the past around Halloween as a “60’s hippie” costume.

As others have said, it’s not that difficult to do yourself but you probably don’t want the hassle now with little time. Seems like if they wanted this theme, they should’ve scheduled it as an activity where the kids make them IN SCHOOL.