How to fold a Double Lightning Bolt

Step 1 – Lay shirt, front side down on your work surface, smoothing to remove any wrinkles.  Note:  I pre-soak my shirts in soda ash solution before folding, but if you prefer to soak after folding, be sure the garment is damp before proceeding.

Step 2 – Fold shirt in half lengthwise.  Smooth out any wrinkles.

Step 3 – Starting about 1/3 of the way down, fold a section of the shirt up to about the lower edge of the sleeves.  Smooth out any wrinkles.

Step 4 – create a second fold bringing a section up from the bottom to about ½ way over the first fold.

Step 5 – Using a straight-edge and a marking pencil, draw a diagonal line from a couple of inches from the bottom to the shoulder.

Step 6 – Starting at the bottom of the line, pinch together to create accordion folds, keeping the line straight, until you reach the top edge of the line.

Step 7 – Use string or sinew to tie a couple of inches from the line over toward the sides.  Tie off.

Step 8 – Apply dyes to each section; flip over and repeat.  Wrap in plastic and batch at least 8 hours.

And here is the end result:

 This fold works best on lighter weight shirts, due to the bulk of the folds.  As you can see, I have a lot of white showing in my pattern; this can be reduced by making sure you get dye deep into the folds.  Have fun!

Here are a couple more examples of the double lightning bolt, to inspire you!