Christmas Tie Dye Shirts & Pattern Ideas

Tie dye is a fun and colorful way to add some personality to your wardrobe, and what better time to do it than during the holiday season? Christmas tie dye shirts are a festive way to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year, and they make for a unique and eye-catching addition to any holiday outfit.

Christmas Tie Dye

Tie dye shirts are so popular, why not make some for Christmas? Christmas tie dye shirts are a unique twist on holiday shirts, and everyone will love them!

I will show you how to create your own tie dye shirts, as well as some fun and creative design ideas to inspire your own creations. If you’re a beginner, make sure you check out my post on Tie Dye Folding Patterns and Techniques – it will help you learn the basic patterns! There’s even a video to help get you started.

Whether you are looking for a DIY project to do with the kids, or you just want to add some holiday cheer to your wardrobe, tie dye is the way to go. So grab your materials and get ready to get messy, because the holiday season is the perfect time to experiment with tie dye and create some truly unforgettable Christmas shirts.

RELATED POST: Grinch Tie Dye Shirts

Tie Dye Shirts for Christmas

Tie Dye is a process of folding and tying off a fabric item like shirts (or other products!) then dying with fabric dyes to reveal colorful and beautiful patterns.

It is a popular way to create DIY shirts and is also a great way to upcycle or reuse old clothes. Plus, the surprise of what colorful pattern you will get after unfolding your tie dye projects is SO much fun!

Christmas tie dye shirts would also make amazing gifts, or could be designed for a Christmas party! If you want to get really creative, you could design an ugly Christmas sweater or an entire outfit with tie dye!

Materials You Need to Make Tie Dye Christmas Shirts

If you’re new to tie dye, you will need a few basic supplies. You can definitely go out and grab a Tie Dye Kit from Amazon or another retailer, but you will get the best results with the following supplies:

• Cotton or Natural Fabric Shirt (or other blank fabric items)
• Fiber Reactive Dye
• Soda Ash
• Rubber Bands or String
• Squeeze Bottles
• Urea (helps dissolve dye and retain moisture)
• Wire Rack
• Metal Sheet Pan
• Plastic Sheet to cover work surface
• Ziploc Gallon Storage Bags or Plastic Wrap

Keep in mind that all of the shirts that I made for this post used professional fiber reactive dye. Results may vary depending on the dye you use!

Common fabric dye works best with cotton or natural fabric (like rayon, hemp, etc.) Polyester fabrics will not work with standard tie dye kits or fiber reactive powder dyes.

How to Make Christmas Tie Dye Shirts

No matter what pattern you will make, the basics of tie dye remain the same. 

• First, prep your shirt with water or soda ash as directed in the dye instructions. 
• Then create the design for your shirt by folding and tying it into sections with rubber bands or string. 
• Apply the dye and let sit in a plastic bag for a minimum of a few hours or up to 24 hours to develop.
• Then you will rinse, unfold, and wash your tie die shirt in the washing machine to reveal your beautiful pattern!

You can create different patterns by folding, twisting, and tying your shirt in different ways. Where you have folded and tied the shirt will create areas of the shirt that will resist the dye you apply and stay white.

RELATED POST: How to Tie Dye a Colored Shirt

The white space, different colors, how much dye you add, and where you place rubber bands all are factors that determine how your particular design will turn out.

Christmas Tie Dye Designs

Brand new to Tie Dye Patterns: Read my Tie Dye Folding Patterns and Techniques Post

There are countless ways to create unique and festive designs with tie dye for the holiday season. Some popular options include using traditional Christmas colors like red and green, or incorporating festive motifs such as Santa Claus and snowmen.

Another fun idea is to create a gradient effect by using multiple colors, such as red, pink, and white to create a colorful and playful ombre design. You can also experiment with different tie dye techniques, such as crumple, spiral, or stripe, to create a variety of patterns and textures on your shirt.

The possibilities are endless, so let your imagination run wild and create a one-of-a-kind Christmas tie dye shirt that is sure to impress.

To show off your Christmas spirit, consider adding a Christmas SVG design to your shirt! You can download a design and cut it out of HTV with your Cricut or Silhouette!

You can upload your own SVG files to Cricut Design Space to make your shirt totally unique. Design sites like Creative Fabrica offer SVG files as well as sublimation files (that you can layer over some white HTV!) Some of my favorite Christmas shirts I made this year were with these Retro Christmas Shirt Designs.

Red and Green Spiral Tie Dye

A spiral pattern is the easiest pattern to master – and also one of my favorite designs! By changing up the colors you can get a unique shirt every time!

Alternate red and green dye to make a classic Christmas spiral:

You could add lime green or pink for an even more bright and festive tie dye!

Candy Cane Stripe Tie Dye

A fun and candy colored twist on a diagonal stripe pattern is possibly my favorite tie dye for the Christmas season.

Snowman Bullseye Tie Dye

My fireworks bullseye shirt is one of my most popular summer patterns. This snowman is a version of a bullseye design!

Rubber band two circles of t shirt material right in the middle of the shirt. Keep them as close together as possible.

Then rubber band the pieces together and wrap them in plastic to make sure they stay white while dyeing the rest of the shirt. I used two shades of dark blue to create a “snowy” effect.

When you untie and rinse the snowman design, here is the result:

I added HTV elements from a Snowman Face Bundle from Creative Fabrica to finish off the Snowman Tie Dye Shirt!

Grinch Heart Tie Dye

If you’d like to show off your love for a classic Christmas movie – check out how I tie dyed these Grinch inspired tie dye shirts!

You can also use a traditional spiral tie dye to create a super cute Grinch Tie Dye Shirt. Add any grinch themed design you would like – or even a Grinch face!

More Christmas Tie Dye Shirt Ideas:

• Tie Dye Christmas Tree Hoodie
• Tie Dye Snowman Ugly Sweater
• Christmas Socks Tie Dye Tutorial
• Tie Dye Christmas Pajamas

You can even shop for a Christmas shirt that you can tie dye – a white shirt with a design is best, but you can try a colored shirt, too!

Here’s some fun Christmas shirts from Amazon:

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Christmas tie dye shirts are a fun and creative way to add some holiday cheer to your wardrobe. With so many fun and unique design ideas to choose from, you can create a shirt that reflects your holiday spirit!

Don’t forget to pin this post to your favorite Christmas or Tie Dye board on Pinterest!