Learn how to dye shoes the easy way with this easy method for making tie dye designs on your favorite canvas shoes using Sharpie markers!
Sharpie tie dyed shoes materials list….
The materials list for these Sharpie shoes is as short and simple as the process itself. Here’s what you need….
- Sharpie markers, other permanent markers may work but I’m loyal to the Sharpie brand. They’re hard to beat.
- Rubbing alcohol
- Pipette or eye dropper
- Canvas shoes
- A towel or scrap paper to cover your work surface
How to start a Sharpie tie dye shoe…
Cover your work surface and grab your markers! Begin by adding dots of color. In the pics above I added tiny dots of color, leaving lots of white canvas remaining.
Use as many or as few color as you want but keep in mind that during the next step the colors will begin to mix. I recommend using analogous colors, or colors that are close to each other on the color wheel to avoid getting muddy brown colors.
Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, like red & green, yellow & purple, and blue & orange, are called complements. When mixed together they produce a neutral brown.
Check out this post for a simple color theory primer!
Mixing colors on your tie dye shoes….
Right now your tie dye shoes just look like shoes you drew on with markers. To say they were tie dyed would be an exaggeration. We can fix that!
Pour out a little rubbing alcohol into a cup. Fill the pipette with alcohol and drip directly onto the shoes. This is the magic!
Watch as the alcohol saturates the canvas. As it does the marker will spread and move right along with the alcohol. Colors will mix and move and create that tie dye look.
Colors will continue to move and spread for a few minutes after the alcohol has been applied. It can also help to tilt the shoe the direction in which you’d like the colors to spread.
Different color patterns for your tie dye shoes….
The tie dye shoes above were done in a slightly different manner. I used larger spots of color instead of the tiny dots you see in the first picture above. The larger dots didn’t spread and move as much as the small ones. The original shapes were retained more completely even after adding the rubbing alcohol.
I like the more traditional tie dye look achieved by using smaller marks but this is another look and also a fun option!