Okay, so I’ve been seeing these “Arnold Palmer” shirts everywhere lately, and I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and try making one myself. I’m not the craftiest person, but hey, it looked fun, and I’m all about trying new things.
First, I had to figure out what exactly is an Arnold Palmer shirt. Turns out, it’s basically a tie-dye shirt using, you guessed it, Arnold Palmer drink mix! Who knew?
So, I gathered my supplies. This is what I ended up using:
- A plain white cotton t-shirt (I just grabbed a cheap one).
- A few packets of Arnold Palmer drink mix (the powdered kind).
- Some rubber bands.
- A couple of squirt bottles (like the kind you use for ketchup or mustard).
- Gloves (didn’t want stained hands!).
- A big plastic tub to work in.
Getting Started
I pre-washed the shirt, just to get any sizing or anything out. Then, while it was still damp, I laid it out in the plastic tub.
Next, I did the whole scrunching and rubber-banding thing. I’ve tie-dyed before, ages ago, so I kind of remembered the basics. I just randomly scrunched up sections of the shirt and wrapped rubber bands around them. No real rhyme or reason, just went with the flow.
Mixing it
Now for the fun part – the drink mix! I emptied a couple of packets into each squirt bottle and added some water. I didn’t measure anything, just eyeballed it until it looked like a pretty strong concentration. Gave them a good shake to mix it all up.
Add Color
With my gloves on, I started squirting the Arnold Palmer mixture onto the shirt. I tried to get it into all the folds and crevices, making sure everything was pretty saturated. I used two differnet concentration, one is darker.
The Waiting Game
Once I was happy with the coverage, I left the shirt all scrunched up in the tub. The instructions I found online said to let it sit for at least 6-8 hours, or even overnight. I went with overnight, because, why not? Patience is a virtue, or something like that.
Rinsing and Washing!
The next morning, I rinsed the shirt out really well with cold water until the water ran clear. Then, I took off the rubber bands and tossed it in the washing machine by itself, on a cold cycle with a little bit of detergent.
It is Done.
Finally, I dried it (again, by itself, just in case) and…it actually turned out pretty cool! It’s got this kind of subtle, earthy tie-dye effect. It’s not super bright or crazy, which I actually like. It’s definitely wearable, and I’m pretty stoked with how it turned out, especially for a first attempt!
And That is all. It is very intresting!
