That’s right. I turned a secondhand plain white summer dress into a funky tye dyed little thing. It’s so easy!
I found this dress at the Salvation Army months ago, and I’ve only worn it once. It fit me great, but I don’t particularly care for or look good in white. It was just floating around my closet, begging to be worn but not really making a great case as to why. I’ve dyed plenty of things before – a scarf, 2 pairs of jeans, countless tshirts – so I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to dye this perfectly white dress. Duh! A quick trip to Michaels and a few bucks later and BAM purple dye sure to spruce up the poor thing. But wait, a few rubber bands and it’s time to go to town! I took a few pictures for posterity’s sake…
So here’s the dress, dye, and rubber bands. I twirled sections around the bottom hem and tied them off, and also did a quick spin with the mid-section and used a huge rubber band. It’s weird to think that even the smallest crease can resist the dye, but it works like a charm. Now it’s time to make the dyebath.
I grabbed a bucket from under my sink (you can dye in the washer, but yeaaaaah I don’t have one of those in my apartment) and some salt. The directions on the side of the dye are incredibly specific – x amount of dye per pound of fabric and x amount of salt in x amount of water – and I’ve never once followed them. I just pour a good amount of salt in the bucket and wet my fabric in the sink. Then I toss the bucket in my tub and start filling it with the hottest water from the tap. Pour in about half the bottle of dye, more or less, and stir to dissolve the salt. Stick the fabric in and stir away! Yes, I’m using a plastic spatula. It’s my dying spatula. The dye bottle says to stir continuously for 30 minutes, so in my brilliance, I put the bucket on a chair in the kitchen and watched an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun while stirring. I may or may not be addicted to that show right now.
Next, you rinse the heck out of the fabric. Rinsing in the tub is relatively safe, and dye that doesn’t wash down the drain can be cleaned up with a little bleach and elbow grease. The directions are to rinse until the water runs clear, which could take a while. While I was swishing my dress around, I thought back fondly on all the times I’ve dyed things before. There was that big dorm event at college where I tye dyed my pillowcase and that time in the art building where Beth and I used the giant sinks in the ceramic studio to dye pants and dresses. My favorite memory, however, is one of the tye dye days I had with my mom. She watched the neighbor kids all summer and we’d always do fun crafts. We had gone out and gotten shirts, rubber bands, and dye, and then set up shop in the backyard with buckets and a clothesline. The best part was when she ran inside and got a pair of my dad’s underwear. We tye dyed it bright pink and hung it on the line.
Oh hey, my dress is done. Saweet! I love the way it turned out! The best thing about tye dye is that you never really know how it’s going to turn out, and it’s pretty much always fantastic. Now the dress just has to hang dry overnight. I also love waking up in the morning to find that the cats have pulled it down and dragged it across the bathroom floor. Gives it that nice little floor spice look. Mmmm. Floor spice.
Anyway, wash it separately the first few times and stick it in the dryer for at least 15 minutes to help set the dye. If you’re really paranoid, just always wash it with your darks (that is, if you even separate your laundry. pssssh.). Don’t forget to model it proudly in your doorway, and a cat always makes a great accessory. Ciao!
goldfishsavant 