To Dye For

I picked up some luscious new goodies in early January from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. That white fabric with black hearts is a Riley Blake jersey from their When Skies Are Grey line. It immediately begged to be dyed, something I'd only read about and never done before. But I was dreaming of acheiving an ombre effect.

I asked for some advice in the RCF Facebook group and I was given some great tips. The two most important being to consider dyeing the fabric after construction of the garment but also to finish any hemming after dyeing as polyester (non-cotton) thread won't take the dye. 

I decided for an ombre effect it definitely made sense to construct the garment first. I made a Pippa Peplum (same garment as this post), leaving the sleeves and skirt unhemmed.

The basic procedure for dyeing is outlined here- https://www.ritstudio.com/techniques/the-basics/how-to-dye-101/

Given that it's winter and I'm impatient (sew impatient), I decided to just give it a go in my kitchen the night the dye arrived. I did experiment with the colors and some scraps first.

Just put a big ole bucket in my kitchen sink

I started with the light pink powder dissolved in hot water in a big bucket, dipping the peplum in occasionally but mostly just keeping the bottom in the dye. I used some wonder clips to hold it to the side of the bucket at the desired level (wish I took a picture of those wonderful multipurpose wonder clips). Then I just added the darker pink right in the same bucket and focussed on soaking the lowest levels.

Rinsing

I followed the typical procedure of rinsing and washing, drying. I hemmed the sleeves the next day.

Voila!

Overall, I'm really happy with the effect and my kitchen survived unscathed. I was trying to keep the top-most part of the top white, but I think some dye bled in the wash. I'm planning to make some blacking leggings to round out the outfit. Keep your fingers crossed that my finicky toddler will actually wear it.