Monday, August 8, 2011

Fabric Dyeing How To.

I recently made an interesting top out of a long sleeve turtle neck shirt but I was unhappy with the color of it. SO I decided to attempt to dye it. I've never dyed fabric before but I have a feeling I'll be doing it a whole lot more!

Before:


The color is alright but it's a bit too Fred Flintstone.

So the process of dyeing is a lot longer than I thought. You have to be sure to pre-wash the fabric to rid of any stains, etc.
You will need boiling water, hot tap water, salt, a bucket, a stirring stick, and obviously your chosen dye.


Soak your fabric or garment in cold water.



When water boils pour it into a glass measuring cup and add dye. It's also a good idea to have a PIG timer.



While dye is dissolving fill a large bucket with hot tap water and salt. Stir with your awesome stick and then pour dye and boiling water into the bucket.


Stir around a bit to mix it all together then gently lower your fabric or garment into the bucket, making sure it isn't twisted. (Unless that's the look your going for.) Next is the longest part. After putting the garment into the bucket you have to stir it around for at least 30 minutes, depending on how dark your original fabric is and how dark you want it to be. You could be stirring for up to a whole hour!! I stirred mine for about 45 minutes.



After stirring for how ever long, rinse the garment in hot water then gradually rinse in cold until the water runs clear.
Then air dry or put it in the dryer to see the finished result!

After:


It didn't exactly turn bright teal but I'm happy with it. Much less Flintstony. Haha!

Of course after seeing how the dye works I wanted to dye more..


Better view of a before and after:

























Happy Dyeing!!

much love

Brit

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