I have always wanted to try my hand at dying something, anything. I did tie die once but that was long ago in a galaxy far, far away….

Before I started I check out the tute that Dana from Made had made to give me some idea of how it would work. Check it out here.

Recently my husband handed me some shirts that I am planning to refashion anyways but they were slightly discolored. The white ones especially. They really weren’t white any longer. So I decided I would dye them first to see how they turned out.

Before:

the blue one is 98% cotton and 2 % spandex, the middle white one is 100% cotton and the one on the right is 65% polyester and 35% cotton.

Here is what the shirts looked like in my sink. I didn’t quite trust my washing machine. It is evil. I know that it would have held on to some dye to use in my next wash of clothes.

The top is the 100% cotton, middle is the 65% poly and 35 % cotton and bottom is 98 % cotton and 2% spandex.

I don’t believe that my sink was really big enough for the fabric to move freely in. I now understand why the directions say to constantly stir or agitate the fabric.  I ended up with some blotchy spots but not enough to bother me or what I make out of the shirts.  But also you will find things on the fabric that you might not have noticed before just because they didn’t dye to match the rest of the fabric.

I really liked how this one turned out. My husband could have worn it again except for the small part that didn't dye and I don't know if it is part of the fabric or something else.

You might not be able to see it as well but I believe that it is a part of the weave.

This is the 100% cotton

Blotches on the sleeves. Thankfully I am turning all these into short sleeved shirts for me.

This is the 98% cotton, 2% spandex. A nice dark shade, but this was already a blue color before I dyed it.

There are more blotches that I missed on this shirt on the sleeves and some on the back.

I found that in doing this in the sink there just wasn’t enough room to move the fabric around in to be able to get a good coverage.  The next time I dye, and I will dye again, I will get a large plastic tub that will give me plenty of room to move and swirl.

I really liked how I got three different shades of blue depending on the type of fabric. I used RIT Royal Blue dye to try the first time around. I figured it would be a good color instead of pink or orange first. Especially if I make a mistake and end up dying my counters.

I think I just picked up another hobby. Let me know what you think and I will show you what I make out of the shirts. Hopefully before summer is over.