fit to be dyed.

you can tell what's going on in my life based on the piles of crap strategically placed throughout the house. right now the piles would tell a story about an overworked, stretched a little too thin, crazy craft lady who's eaten far too much birthday cake and is on what seems to be a two week sugar high. pish posh; the fruits of this sugar high are pretty cute, if i say so myself.

a few weeks ago, i was going through my closet, deciding which items to donate to goodwill, when i happened upon a white dress i had worn to one of my wedding showers. i absolutely loved the dress, but hadn't worn it since. i was about to add it to the donation pile when i wondered about the possibility of dying it. i figured it couldn't be that hard, and it really wasn't.



stirring the steamy brew was sort of ominous, and lots of fun. my mom and sister happened to be over for the dying fun, and we were all super excited to see what the final product was going to look like.



a fabulous new navy dress! the blue hue is beautiful and i'm so happy with the way it turned out. so happy, in fact, that i decided to do a little more experimenting with the rest of the articles that were just hanging out in my donation pile.

from this...


to this!


and, these fine specimens, proving that too much of a good thing can be... adorable!


all of these items were white or cream colored prior to dying. i'm so happy with how vibrant and colorful they turned out... bring on spring, please!

and just in case you want to re-vamp some of your donation pile-worthy pieces of clothing, here's how i did it:

1) purchase RIT dye (or whichever brand you prefer) in your favorite color. joann fabrics has a great selection of colors.

2) heat water on the stove. (you need 3 gallons of water per each box of powdered dye). i heated the water until it was almost boiling.

3) pour the dye in the bottom of a big plastic tub. call it a cauldron; you'll have much more fun.

4) carefully pour the hot water into the tub with the mix. use a plastic spoon or utensil to combine the water and mix. when the mix has dissolved, you're ready to add your soon to be fabulously colorful clothes.

5) wet the clothes you will add to the dye using warm water. this well help the dye color the clothing evenly. when the article is thorougly soaked, wring it out and add it to the cauldron.

6) use the utensil to swirl the clothing around the cauldron evenly.

7) stir slowly until you achieve the desired look. (anywhere from 10-30 minutes)

8) when you have achieved the color you desire, carefully wring out the article and put it in the sink (carefully, so the dye doesn't drip all over the floor). turn the water on as hot as you can get it, and rinse the article. as you rinse, slowly change the temperature of the water cooler. when the water is running clear, wring out the article.

9) fill the washing machine with warm water (rinse cycle cold) with a tiny amount of detergent. add the newly dyed items and wash on the gentle cycle. when finished, hang to dry.

make sure the clothes you dye have been pre-washed. any stain or imperfection will be picked up when you dye the clothes, so if the clothes are dirty (or have underarm/deoderant stains), you'll see that in the color. cotton blend clothing works best. synthetic fabrics will not necessarily pick up the dye.

besides using RIT dye to move your wardrobe from winter to spring, you can also use black dye to re-vamp tired old work pants, sweaters, etc. that have started to fade. my favorite black work pants were looking a little sad, but a few spins in the old cauldron and they're looking brand new again.

so, spring is just around the corner. (here's hoping!) go brew something adorable.