I choose to wash my garment in my washing machine after I had thoroughly rinsed it after dyeing. I washed it with a load of dark towels but I threw one white sock in as I was curious if the dye would bleed onto other clothes. Here's what I got:
-Prepare properly before you begin. You should wear gloves. You should wear old clothes and possibly an apron. It can only take a second for you to dye your skin, carpet or clothes so you need to plan out every step of the process before you begin.
-Keep your spirit of adventure! As you can see the thread in the upper bodice of my dress did not dye but remained white. Also the lace trim along the bust is a slightly different purple than the rest of the dress. These "imperfections" are what make home dyeing projects fun—but only if you don't go into the project with too high of expectations.
-Use cheap buckets or stainless steel to dye and rinse garments. You could also do the rinsing outdoors with a hose. Do not use your bathtub or porcelain sink as it will probably stain. My kitchen sink is stainless steal so it was ideal for this project but I was sure to remove all dishes before the project and I cleaned the sink after. You don't want to eat dye. Gross.
-Rinse the garment as thoroughly as you can; but the first time you wash it do so with other dark clothes or wash it by hand separately. As I learned from my sock test, even a thoroughly rinsed dyed garment will probably bleed the first time it's washed.
-Check your dye package for any allergy information. Most store bought dyes contain chemicals that you (or your loved ones) could be allergic to. In general they are perfectly safe, but it's best to double check before beginning a project.
Be safe, and above all have fun with home dyeing! xo emma
88 Comments
I love it in purple! Just adorable 🙂
fun! i always see those little rit boxes and get the itch! love the new purple dress. my daughter would LOVE to do this with socks. she has a thing for really bright socks!
wow the purple dress looks great! what a fun project! I always forget to buy gloves though.
http://www.tinacious.me
You did a great job!
The dress looks great!
xoxo
http://natashafatah.blogspot.com
Beautiful! I’ll be trying this next weekend on my old shirt 🙂
Great tips! Gonna find myself some clothes to dye! Can’t wait to add some nice colors to my wardrobe 🙂
Love the color you used. Looks great on you!
xo Sari
I love that color purple! Also, I think it looks really cool that the little lace bit at the top is a different shade. Thanks for all the tips; I can’t wait to try this!
x Katherine
adorable^^
Omg I’m so trying this. I have a bridesmaids dress from last march that I can’t part with but have been wishing it was in a different color. what a great idea! Thanks for this!!!
a little dyeing tipp from me: if you have some old and verry washed jeans but you like to re-fresh them, simply just put them into the washing machine with a newly dyed piece. just as you did with the sock. the colour re-freshs and the jeans looks closely to new. it works really great. if you wish a more soft effect, wait 2-3 washes before you wash the old piece with the newly died one. you can also dye your stuff in the washing machine. works out just fine as if you d.i.y. plus it washes out all the left overs and you dont have to do the whole job. its a great time saver, too.
btw. emma, i really think your blue hair looked gorgeous on you, but so does the brunette/blond!
<3 carolin
love this! 🙂http://lovesimplegreen.blogspot.com/
waow its great tips.. its awesome.. thank you so much for the info..
kuti
http://ishootstyle.blogspot.com
Love it! The purple is beautiful! Great job Emma!
xx
http://www.thrifted.ca
This is such a great idea! And a great way to revamp an old clothing item 🙂
http://thelittletexan.blogspot.com/
Such a great idea!
I love the purple – it’s almost as if these are two completely different dresse :]
http://blog.kathastrophal.de
Lovely! I love the look of home dyed items.
Question! How much salt do you add to the dye?
Αm I the only one who prefers the white one? 😀
http://inwhirlofinspiration.blogspot.com
I like the white too and the white stitching on the purple dress makes it look cheap. IMO
I’m telling ya, you guys should try ProChem. It’s amazing how much deeper and lovelier the colors are than RIT. This is awesome though. The purple is really pretty =)
– Sarah
agirlintransit.blogspot.com
Fun!!
Very pretty
Val
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/
Love it! I feel inspired to dye something… 🙂
ooh cute dress! I think I like it even better in purple, you can see more of the details.
http://withlovesofiaclara.blogspot.com/
I love it in purple. the details on the dress show up in purple.
Turned out great! I actually love the darker purple lace trim on the bodice. Gives it a little contrast.
I finally moved to a place with a stainless steel sink! I can’t wait to start dying again. Great post, thanks!
Love it!! Also, seeing emma’s blue hair brought back so many good memories! XO
Beautiful!
I would use a Shout Color Catcher or two in the wash with the dyed garment. Those little babies are a staple in my laundry arsenal, and I use the used sheets in other scrapbook and craft projects.
http://sunsetscrapbooks.com/wordpress/?p=100
ALWAYS Amazing DIY….Elsie i love your BLOG…You have a great Future
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Really good tips, and I love the dress both before and after. 🙂
http://Teaforowls.blogspot.co.uk
hah i learned the wear-old-clothes-part the hard way when i was experimenting with dye myself. ruined one of my favorite skirt, luckily it can be worn both sides but of course i had to ruin the fun side… still haven’t forgiven myself. also, my dog came along when i was doing it thinking that she should definitely try eating the dye and well, our whole house plus the dog was red because of the dye. quite a funny memory 🙂
Soaking clothes in diluted white vinegar is great for setting dye as well!!
super fun!
xxx
http://www.ladyalamode.com
Can’t wait to see more dyeing projects. Tie-dye something perhaps? 🙂
The thread is probably nylon and doesn’t hold dye– there are quite a few fabrics that won’t. For an on-stage costume dress I used fabric spray paint (found in the floral area of a craft store) and it works, just makes the garment stiff.
I also asked my awesome dry cleaner about dying something professionally, and he said there is basically no way to do it (because there’s no guarantee the color will come out) and you’re better off doing it at home with Rit dye!!
Love all your projects. Keep it up!
The stitching on the bodice, probably didn’t absorb dye because it is a man-made fiber, such as polyester or even a cotton/poly blend. It’s a great contrast though, and makes the dress a little more whimsical. If, however, you ever wanted to sew something, with the intention of dyeing it, if you use 100% cotton, white thread, it should dye the exact same color as the cotton fabric. D.I.Y dyeing is so much fun! Thanks for the tutorial!
-BekahDrey
http://bekahdrey.blogspot.com
Here in England, Dylon is the best brand (http://www.dylon.co.uk/). I’d really recommend giving them a whirl! They’re fab and you can use the washing machine which is incredibly easy.
Anna x
I want to try a tie and dye. Is it the same process I wander.
http://www.thoughtsofpaps.com
Great post. One thing to keep in mind is that while the fabric will dye, most of the time the thread (almost always synthetic) will not. It changes up the look of the garment. Not a bad thing, but unexpected in my own dye adventures. ^_^
In purple it looks like a completely new dress, so happy and colourful, love it!
I’ve been considering dying a jacket of mine, and another blog revealed that RIT dye often fades and bleeds quickly every time it’s washed. Is that true?
Thanks for the tips! This post came just in time, as I’m playing around with the idea of dying some white jeans pastels colors, but I haven’t died since summer camp tie-dye day when I was a kid! 🙂
Silly question: if I end up rinsing the dye outside, will the dye kill my grass or stain the driveway??
I totally dyed my Matrol-of-Honor dress PURPLE for my sister’s wedding in November! But unfortunately, I did not get a good “before” shot:(
If you are interested – here is the “After”:
http://www.maydae.com/fashion/wedding-garb/
Love,
Stephanie May*
http://www.maydae.com
The new color looks great!
That dress looks so fantastic in purple! This was such an amazing idea! Thanks for sharing!
http://littleladylittlecity.blogspot.com/
So cool! I like it! I think to try this with my white shorts 🙂
xx
biskvittka.blogspot.com
Cute project, thanks for sharing!
Oh, and psst – dying! No “e” between the “y” and “i”.(;
http://pinkscriptblog.blogspot.com/
In the 90´s, when grunge was on, i used to dye t-shirts, jeans… everything! with the help of my mum ; )
http://mykitschworld.blogspot.com.es
the thread didn’t dye because it is polyester. also, the trim, being a different composition, will take the dye differently as well. it’s also good to wear a particle mask while mixing the powder to your dye bath, you don’t want to inhale RIT dye, it is chock full of nasty chemicals.
My friend and I used Rit Dye to add color back to our faded blue jeans, and we decided to bake a cake from scratch while the jeans soaked. I wasn’t wearing gloves this time around, and I didn’t think about washing my hands while before switching projects. We ended up with a cake that tasted like Rit Dye. Not the ideal situation, but we sure did get a laugh. The jeans looked pretty good, as does your dress. Thanks for the tips!
the dress is so cute! thanks for the tips! 🙂
http://stainsofpaint.blogspot.com/
I love the purple, it makes the little details of the dress stand out a lot more than when the dress was white. Also the “imperfections” you speak about are what I think make the dress unique and beautiful. I have a white dress I don’t wear much, maybe I will dye it!
Awesome!
http://www.loganmakesamess.com
*DYEING TIP*
even cotton garments are often sewn with polyester thread, which has different properties than cotton and may not take the dye as well. So you will wind up with the thread a different colour than the fabric. Contrasting stitching can still be quite attractive, but know you might not end up with a uniformly coloured garment!
what a great review! Thank you very much, it was very thorough and helpful!
http://www.teganiasthoughts.blogspot.com
i love how you can really see the stitching now. so cute, emma!
Oh this is so cute! I’ve yet to try dyeing something at home but I can’t wait to try it!
it turned out great. I did the exact same thing with a white tank top that i dyed purple a few years ago. The stitching stayed white just like on your dress. I liked the effect though.
Very helpful! I was actually getting ready to dye a shirt…I just purchased the dye!
It is a very beautiful lavendar!
Beautiful! Love how it turned out. I love to dye things to upcycle them. I have to remember that the dye will eventually fade or wash out (usually) if I wash the garment in the machine. Thanks for sharing these tips.
elsie–i have the most beautiful vintage swimsuit that i love, but the color is quickly fading. Do you think I could dye it and still wear it? would the color come out in the pool or react with chlorine?
xx
Yay for sharing this! When I first started Mountains of the Moon, I dyed ALL of the piece at home in my washing machine. It’s a project for sure!
Synthetic fabrics and threads won’t take dye like cotton, so if you want the thread to match, it has to be 100% cotton vs. a cotton/poly blend. I like the way it looks to have the thread lighter though (like your dress).
xo
Aw! So pretty!! I love it! <3
That dress is gorgeous on you! I love how the color turned out. I used that same color for a dip-dyeing project last year (http://transientexpression.com/ombre/), so I’m kind of partial to it. I really like the unexpected results with home dyeing, and I can’t wait for your how-to for natural dyes! I’ve been wanting to try that for a while.
Love that shade of purple! It looks great on you too! 🙂 Great job.
lovely tutorial yet again! oh gosh i love the blue hair :O
xx
-S
Ginger and Lace
love it!!!!
http://bonnieclydemarni.blogspot.com/
love the colour, its gorgeous! Natural dyeing is so much fun, i just found how awesome onion skin dye looks on silk, so cool.
This is my new favourite blog, so inspirational 🙂
Josephine. xx
Where do you get ProChem? I’ve been looking and waiting for a better way to dye things.
Everyone is going d.i.y dye crazy at the minute and oddly enough, i have just done a post a few wks back on dying! I dip dyed a very expensive old printed silk dress, just cos i was cored with it, and the results are AMAZING!!! Thnx for the tips xxxx
I love to experiment with at-home dyeing – your dress turned out wonderful!
xo
cortnie
I love that the thread stayed white. So pretty!
Wow. I have an old white Free People dress that is from my highschool graduation that would be perfect to do this to. Great idea!
elleheyno.blogspot.com
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Thank you for such an interesting and informative post. I have a white dress waiting to be dyed so I’ll be sure to keep all of this in mind. 🙂
That color came out GREAT!
makes the dress look so different!
Thanks for showing! 🙂
wow, that looks absolutely gorgeous! thanks so much!
This is great! But as a dying pro might i suggest a bigger dye bath? You will get more even tones if there is more room for the fabric to move around freely in the dye bath. Just a tip. looks great though!
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the purple dress looks great!
Yes, you do need to make sure you properly prepare for a mess when you dye things. You want to make sure no dye can get where you really don’t want it. I like the tip about wearing old clothes. The last time I dyed something I was wearing my favorite jacket which now has yellow spots on one arm.
Wow! What a great idea. I like colorful dresses. I will dye my all white shirts.