Thriftin' Thursday ~ Edition 2: Dye job
Thursday, January 31, 2013
So I got my hair did the other day, a trim and a dye job. It's such a refreshing feeling walking out of the hair salon. You feel like a new person. A slightly brighter, better version of your former drab self. Well that's how I feel anyway. I was thinking about this as I was going through my closet. I have a few items that I have totally worn the shit out of. I've worn them so many times I'm absolutely sick of looking at them, much like my hair by week five when the gray starts showing. Your clothes can start looking gray to you as well. Take for instance this white shirt....
Last fall/winter this shirt was in weekly rotation. It was perfect to pair under my favorite green cardigan. Great for those once a week work days when I get up and don't want to have to think about what I'm going to wear. Well it has started to look a little gray. The white is no longer a bright white anymore and the armpits...let's not even go there. I could never wear this without a cardigan because of those scary yellow deodorant stains. Don't need to scare anybody, all though I've probably scared y'all. Sorry, just keeping it real. Anyhoo I remembered I had a bottle of brown Rit dye and decided to give my first dye job. If it didn't work out I wouldn't be too sad about having to trash this shirt, even though it was my favorite, it's seen better dayz.
First thing I did was to remove the white buttons. I then got a 3 gallon stock pot and filled it half the way full with water and cranked up the stove to bring it to a boil. While I was waiting for the water to come to a boil I rinsed my shirt in hot water and wrung it out thoroughly. Got an old dishpan that I didn't care if it stained and filled it with the boiling stove water. Added about a half cup of the brown dye (which was probably more than enough) and added my shirt to the mix. Now the directions say to stir your clothing continuously for 30 minutes to an hour. Alrighty then, I don't think so... I stirred it for about 10 minutes continuous (till my arm got tired) then off and on, letting it soak for a full hour.
After letting it soak a full hour I removed it from it's warm, toasty bath and rinsed it under warm water until the water ran clear. Threw it in the washer and washed it on the hot/cold cycle then of course tossed it in the dryer. And here is the end result...
This is after a full day of wear so don't mind them wrinkles. It's turned out a little lighter than expected because of the cotton/poly blend fabric. I like how the thread around the ruffle provides a nice contrast. I mixed the buttons up to keep it interesting.
In this close up you can see the marbly (is that a word) effect the dye had on cotton/poly blend.
I'm excited to get some more wear out of this shirt. It's like new again. This is just one way you can do some thriftin in your own closet and breathe some new life into those over worn garments. Have any of you dyed your clothes to give them a new look?
20 comments
I actually love the "marbly" look, and the buttons really add to the look, Love the results!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! Yep I think it was a definite improvement.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I have never dyed fabric yet... to me it seems like fashion alchemy and it is too intimidating. I'll get around to it, though, since it looks like a quick fix for white shirts with pitstains...
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty easy to do. Definitely give it a try.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a cool idea! I've been afraid of using dyes, but you make it sound so easy!
ReplyDeleteWAY CUTE!! I love the darker shade and the fancy buttons. So awesome :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of dying a garment to give it new life (or hide stains from its old life). I'm pretty lazy about it, and my fabrics definitely come out blotchy, and I love it.
ReplyDeleteI've never done it (sounds messy! lol), but this came out awesome!
ReplyDeleteOh, this turned out great! I've never used dye like that (mainly because I'm a slob and I would probably stain our whole apartment), but this is really interesting!
ReplyDeleteOh, this is pretty! I like the shirt you sewed and the dye job. Have you ever tried dyeing something with tea? It also comes out a brown colour, but more of a sepia tone. And smells nice :).
ReplyDeleteHi there, this is lovely! I like the shirt you made and the dye job. Have you ever tried dyeing something with tea? It turns a brown colour as well, but more of a sepia tone. It smells nice too :) and is totally non-toxic. (sorry if this posts twice, having some trouble with it).
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of dying with tea. I may give that a try sometime!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm pretty sloppy too. I considered wearing a garbage bag over my clothes. ha!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes it can get a little messy.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
ReplyDeleteYep it's not too bad. Can get a little messy if your not careful
ReplyDeleteThis was my first attempt and I really liked how it turned out. I will definitely be doing it again.
ReplyDeleteSuch a good idea! Love the new colour and buttons looks so cute. Your blog looks awesome gets better every time I visit it!! Just followed your instagram I am slowly catching up on social media, but the pug photos will give me a good laugh when I am at work hehe.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank ya! I just followed you back on Instagram. Yep Vito gives me plenty to post about! lol
ReplyDeleteOops, this was me, obviously an error issue with posting....lol.
ReplyDelete