DIY Tie-Dye Duffel Bag

Another DIY Friday is upon us! I love having all this time over the summer to be creative and recently I have become addicted to tie-dye and using fabric dyes to add something extra to my clothes. This week I am showing you how you can tie-dye a canvas bag. I bought this large canvas duffel bag on Amazon here for just £5.30. But you can use a simple canvas tote bag if you'd prefer.

The finished result is bold, bright and right on trend. Perfect for festivals and camping or to use as a gym bag, laundry bag or a throw-everything-into-it-and-stay-the-whole-weekend-bag!
It's really easy to do and I show you all the steps below. I'm using Dylon Fabric Hand Dye which comes with handy instructions on the back of each packet. You can buy them on eBay for a few pounds each.

I dyed the whole canvas bag with a packet of Dylon Fabric Dye in French Lavender. Due to the creamy beige colour of the canvas, this came out as a light denim blue sort of shade. I just wanted a nicer background colour than the original cream beige. The canvas also become much softer and easier to manipulate when it had been through the washing machine with some fabric softener - this helps when it comes to tying the rubber bands.

Dylon Fabric Hand Dye in Flamingo Pink

Table Salt

Lots of Rubber Bands

Measuring Jug

Large Buckets

Gloves

Old Clothes

Start by twisting, bunching and pinching your bag in random areas all over. Tie up with rubber bands tightly! Keep going until you have tied up sections all over the bag and are left with some weird shaped thingamabob.

Fill your jug with warm-hot tap water and pour in the powder dye. Stir well with a spoon until all the powder has dissolved. You should be left with a bright red colour.

Now fill up a bucket with 4-6 litres of warm-hot tap water. Add 5 tablespoons of salt. Salt helps to open up the fabric and let the dye in! Stir well. Pour in the jug of red dye to the bucket. Stir well and you'll have a bright flamingo pink colour! Pop the canvas bag into the dye bath.
Be careful to do all this in a prepared area. The dye will stain carpets and furnishing - so do this outside, in a garage or put down lots of protective sheets first.

Set your alarm for 45 minutes. Stir the mixture every 15 minutes or so and turn the bag over so dye reaches all areas. After 45 minutes the dye should have soaked the fabric and be a strong pink colour.

Time to remove your bag! Squeeze out as much dye as you can. Pop the bag into a bucket of cool water and rinse off the dye. Remove the rubber bands and you'll see the subtle pattern you have created!

Chuck the bag into the washing machine on a short cycle. Use a little amount of detergent and softener.
Hang outside to dry. As you can see I also created this pink tie dye top using a jug full of the dye bath.

Have fun tie dying your own bags - if this is not wild enough for you, you can of course add studs or spikes! I think the finished result is comparable to something I'd spot on ASOS or in Topshop and have to buy - but this tie-dye bag costs less than £8 to make and its a complete original!

x

*Click here to check out more DIY tutorials by Gwen McMullin