has anyone ever dyed a piece of clothing?

[trixie459]

I bought a really cute dress on sale at Banana Republic to wear to a wedding next month. It fits great and looks super chic, except for one thing - it's white, a definite "no-no" for wedding attire. I'm wondering if I can dye it a bright color (pink or red) using a fabric dye like RIT. The dress is 100% cotton - supposedly the best type of fabric for dyeing.

Has anyone ever attempted this before and, if so, how did it turn out?

FWIW, if the dye job ends up horrendous, I'd only be out $50, so it's not like there's a lot of money at stake.

[pixy0stix]

Yes. Instead of Rit, use Dylon dye. You'll get richer, more even color.

However, the hot water required for dying might shrink your dress.

[trixie459]

Where do you buy Dylon dye? Can you get it at a craft store like Michaels?

[fashionx]

I've used RIT with good results, if you can't find the Dylon one. I've never heard of that one before but now I want to find some. And yes cotton is the easiest thing to dye and get a nice color result. For very bright colors, I would leave it in the dye about 5 minutes longer than when you are supposed to, as it can fade a little bit on the first wash.

[pixy0stix]

Jul 16, 2012 16:36:14 GMT -5 trixie459 said:

Where do you buy Dylon dye? Can you get it at a craft store like Michaels?

Yup. You'll probably want to get 2 packets. One packet is enough for a large t-shirt.

[wawa]

The only place you might run into trouble is if there is visible top stiching. If the thread is a different material than the dress (likely) it'll probably take the dye differently and become more noticeable. This might be bad, it might be NBD. But I'd probably give a whirl anyway.

[FormerCityGirl]

Listen to all of the above advice and make sure to saturate the fabric as evenly as possible. If not, it will look uneven and sort of like a tie dye.

[trixie459]

Thanks for all the tips. I picked up some Dylon dye last night (in "Tulip Red") and plan to tackle the dye job this weekend. *fingers crossed*

[AngGee]

And don't forget to post a pic of the finished project.

[meggers]

Don't forget to PIP the results! RIT dye is my secret weapon--I'll have to try the other brand. I seriously get so much more wear out of my clothes. I used to toss/donate so much because of fading. I've had a lot of luck with RIT's color recipe thing online. The exposed stitching, like the pp mentioned, is the only tricky part because post of the time it is polyester (or something) that won't take dye.