I'm Dyeing Here

This is something I've wanted to try for awhile now, and finally had time to do it Saturday morning. In a perfect world, I would have posted this tutorial Saturday night or Sunday afternoon, but life, and then the flu, got in the way. Thankfully Baby Girl is feeling much better, and Mama is only feeling a little icky. Bugaboo hasn't caught it, and I hope it stays that way!

Okay, on to the fun stuff. I bought some onesies for my niece, and wanted to add some applique to them, so they wouldn't look quite so, well, WHITE. I was in Hobby Lobby, and saw the Rit dye, and thought (it can be a little scary when I start thinking), that would be a great way to make it look really different! Soooooo, this is what I came up with.

Materials Needed:

Rit Dye (there are lots of colors to choose from)
Onesies
Salt
Hot water and a sink
Something to stir with
Rubber Gloves
Washing Machine & Dryer
Time (at least 30 minutes)

I feel like my Grandmother at Christmas time...just noticed I left the price tags on the bottles of dye.

When I got to the checkout, the lady pointed out the price tag on the Apple Green bottle of dye. Thank goodness it was a typo. : -)

Okay, the directions on the bottle of dye said to use the whole bottle for 3 pounds of dry fabric. Well, I'm not sure how much 2 onesies weigh, but I know it's not close to 3 pounds. So, I guessed on how much dye to add to the water, and was very pleased with the results.

You don't need to wash the onesies before dyeing them, because you'll do that after.

First, fill your sink with hot water. I did 2 onesies at a time, and added 12 cups of hot water. Next, add 3/4 to 1 cup of salt, and stir. Then, I added 1/8 cup of dye (I used the color violet for the first 2 onesies), and stir that as well. Make sure that what you choose to use as a stirrer is something you don't mind getting stained. I used a wooden spoon, and it is now forever banned from cooking use, but should have a long and happy life as a crafting stick. : -)

Get your onesies wet before adding them to the dye bath. Then, put them in the sink, and start stirring. The directions on the bottle say to stir constantly for 30 to 60 minutes. Well, in Mommy Land, that isn't always possible. There were a few times I had to leave my stirring duties, but it still turned out fine.

I think at this point, I was already clock watching....7 minutes down, 23 to go.

I chose to go with the lesser time. 30 minutes, and I was done stirring.

Looks goooood.

Now it's time to rinse. Run warm water over the onesies until the water runs clear. I used gloves for this part.

Loving the color!

Now it's time to wash them in the washing machine. I washed them with warm water (even though I am a die hard cold water clothes washer).

What it looks like before going in the washing machine. Much more exciting than a white onesie.

After washing, I dried it on the highest setting. I wanted to make sure it was done with all of it's shrinking before adding any applique and sending it to my niece.

All done! Woohoo!

I did the other 2 onesies in a teal color.

Teal dye bath.

Ready to go in the washing machine.

All done! Very happy with how they turned out.

I will be posting a tutorial on adding applique in the next few days. Looking forward to seeing how they turn out, and hopefully my niece (she's almost 10 months old) will approve. : -)

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime


I am linking up this project at these great linky parties... Every Crafty Endeavor, Keeping It Simple, The Girl Creative, Sarahndipities, Until Wednesday Calls and....