Learn How to Tie Dye

Reviewer: William E.

I have made thousands of T-shirts, sheets, curtains, baby clothes and even boxer shorts. I have supplied dozens of stores from Daytona Beach to Miami with T-shirts and more, followed the Grateful Dead on tours, and sold T-shirts through mail order. With the exception of a very few pointers, I have found information on the creation of high quality tie dyes to be very illusive. I have read countless books, most of which contained the same extremely basic and often inaccurate information. The majority of my "tie dye education" has come through several years of very expensive trial and error...and believe me, there are many many possible errors to be made. Tom & Martine have created nothing shy of the "Holy Grail" of How to Tie Dye DVD's. I have never seen anything that comes even close to the quality of this set. If you know absolutely nothing about tie dye, rent this DVD set and you will have every necessary piece of information you need to make amazing tie dyes. Everything from how to do it, to where to get everything you need to do it. If you are a seasoned tie dye professional, you still want to rent this DVD set. You will find several tips which will save you money, save you time and effort, and make tie dying much more enjoyable. I don't know how Tom and Martine managed to put a price on their invaluable DVD set...at 10 times the selling price, it would still be worth every penny! ~Bill

Reviewer: James L.

The Olympian art of theatrical criticism was changed forever by Pauline Kael, who brought a passionate new style of passionate, subjectivism to the genre. It was changed again by “Ain’t It Cool News” critic Harry Knowles, who matched film geek passion with endless personal detail, and expressed himself with writing so dreadful you suspected he had taped a stick to the side of his head which he used to stab the keyboard at random. In that spirit, I will tell you that I come to this film with a head cold and a faint, annoying oscillating sound in my right ear. I fear the video will be something like “How to Identify Common Infections By Sputem Hue” or something cold-related. I’m not in the mood for that. Well, let’s open the envelope.

See? That’s what Harry would do. He’ll start writing before he even knows what he’s talking about.

Oh my stars. “Tie Dye 202: Making Shapes with Tie Dye.”

I am not found of tie dying, since it has an unbreakable connection with wannabe hippies. Yes, it was popular in the 60s; so was syphilis. Just because people wore it in the 60s does not mean we should wear it today, anymore than kids in the 60s wore raccoon coats and beaded flapper skirts. My child has a few tie-dyed items, though – red white and blue, for that Reagan-on-mescaline look. We made them together at a friend’s house; I learned all about the process. It’s not hard. Doesn’t matter if you screw up, because they all look the same. Well, let’s pop it in and give it a look.

We meet our hosts, and right away the ancient Native American proverb comes to mind: today is a good day to dye.

What is this? Something you’d see at the OB-GYN office on the Predator’s planet?

I’m sure it took a long time to make, but you could say the same thing about a crocheted version of the Brooklyn Bridge. First we learn about Hearts. If you’ve done any tie-dying, you know there’s a good deal of shirt manipulation involved. You have to bunch up the fabric and tie them off. Hence the name. Then you spatter the shirt with paint. The result looks like someone scalped Charles Manson:

And so on. If you’re interested in tie-dying, this will give you ideas, because it’s apparent quite quickly this isn’t rocket science. On the other hand, portions of the video consist – literally – of watching paint dry, so you may want to keep your hand on the FF button.

Oh, this is good: “Stars.” As our host Tom says “Now we’ll learn to fold a five-pointed star, and use it to create some political controversy.” They hold up two patterns: the “Stars and Stripes” and “Diversity Designs.”

Whoa. Can they do that? Are the FBI satellites pointed at my house just because I’m watching this?

You knew this was coming:

Peace signs! The one on the left is the “Rasta Peace,” and the one on the right is “the Protest.”

There’s a few practical tips on preparing and seasoning your creation, then a wrap-up with a plug for “Tie-Dye 303,” where you’ll learn really advanced folding tips. Perhaps there’s a “Tie-Dye 404,” which teaches you how to build your e-commerce shirt store while stoned, so none of the links work.

All in all, simple clear instructions from some nice folks. Can’t ask for more. And honest, too: the soundtrack contains many loops familiar to anyone who’s worked with Apple’s Soundtrack program, and the closing credits consist of one percussion track after the other. I was curious to see if anyone took credit for writing this, but the credits say “music score arranged by Tom Rolofson.” Not written, but arranged. That’s honest. I’ll bet if you overpaid him a quarter on an order from his company, he’d send it back, taped to a piece of cardboard. They seem like that sort of people.

UPDATE: Turns out this is actually a video about Rotarians making clean, picture-free blank T-shirts. I took too much cold medicine, man. I was stone tripping.

Reviewer: Keith L.

Incredibly good: most instructional DVDs hover between being the less-than-wonderful production made by an expert in the field, valued for the gems of brilliance interspersed with groaners, and being an almost professional production that unfortunately features a hack. This DVD is refreshingly different.

Okay, it's not exactly professionally made, but it's so close it's scary. The authors cover everything incredibly well with pictures, demonstrations, lists, etc. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they have probably done a better job of organizing the ingredients and presenting that organization than a professional would or could have done.

At the other end of the spectrum, their artistic talent and love of tie dye runs through the whole video. At first, you think they are being dry. Then it becomes apparent that they are holding back their enthusiasm and restraining themselves in order to impart the information we need to know.

If you've ever wondered how tie dye works or if you've ever admired an artistically done tie dye t-shirt, spend the 10 bucks and rent this DVD. You'll watch it at least twice and be much more entertained than by one of those drama/romances you'd have wasted your time on otherwise. I'll be renting the other two in the series soon!

Reviewer: Hilda K.

Excellent craftmanship! I wish there were dvds available for sale rather than for rent. Keep up the great work.