Experimenting with fabric dyes

 I really don't like to shop retail anymore, but I'm not quite fast enough to turn out a whole season's wardrobe in my spare time and it would be as hard to find all the right fabrics as it is to find all the right cuts in ready-to-wear.  So I was pretty excited about an article that was in In Style magazine this summer, explaining how easy it was to breathe new life into old clothes by dyeing them another shade.  There are several things hanging in my closet underutilized because they are an odd shade, so I decided to give it a try. I used Rit dyes available from JoAnn's.  There is a custom color chart on their website that gives the recipe for a desired color.  I chose a burnt orange, which was 1 t Tangerine, 1 t Sunshine Orange, and 1/2 t Cocoa Brown. 

Blouse after dyeing

Blouse before dyeing

The first garment that came to mind was a wrinkle resistant blouse from Coldwater Creek that had always been too peachy to match anything.  I wanted a little more burnt orange to match a skirt I had made.  It was wrinkle resistant, so it probably has some sort of coating on the fiber to resist wrinkles and I wasn't sure it would take the dye.  But it was 100% cotton, so I thought I'd give it a try.  Even though I doubled the dye, it did not take the dye the way the tee did.  I made sure to heat the water to 140 degrees, doubled the amount of dye I used, and soaked for 30 minutes, hoping for a much deeper orange.  It did darken the shirt up a little, but the color is a little uneven, so I do not recommend using dyes on wrinkle-free shirts, even if they are 100% cotton. 

Tee after dyeing

Tee before dyeing

The second thing was a mauve tee that I never wear, but would probably work into my fall weekends if it was also burnt orange.  It took the dye really well and was true to the shade I was mixing for.  The only problem was that the dye is a little uneven on the right side front.  I stirred the shirt in the dye bath with a spoon consistently, but I recommend unfurling it and submerging it again throughout the bath to make sure the color takes evenly. 
 

 All in all, it is really easy to do and it doesn't have to be messy.  The directions explained a stove-top method and specified no non-stick for heating the dyes, so I used a bucket in my double sink.  But the color takes better if the water is heated, so I used my non-stick pot to heat the water to 140 degrees and poured it in the bucket. 






The first step is to use the color remover.  I used one packet for the bucket and let it soak for 30 minutes.  I stirred with a wooden spoon frequently to avoid creases.  During the 30 minutes, I heated up additional water and poured it in the sink around the bucket to keep the solution warm without diluting it. 
After 30 minutes, you rinse with hot water, then with warm water, and then you are ready to dye to your color.

 

I measured out the colors and mixed them with 2 cups of water in a stainless steel bowl.  I also ran hot tap water in the bucket and dissolved 1 cup of salt and 1 tbsp of detergent.  Once that is setup, you add the colors to the bucket.  Soak the garment for 30 minutes, stirring to distribute the dye.  After 30 minutes, rinse in hot water, then warm water until the dye runs clear.  It took about 10 rinses to get clear water. 

So that's it!  Easy, right?  I can't wait to experiment with more dyeing techniques.