DIY DYE

As of lately I have been seeing a lot of posts on bringing new life to clothes and accessories with the magical properties of dye. And I was intrigued. But I didn't want to have the issue of accidentally dyeing my hands or my sink though I did manage to get a little of the dye on the inner drum of my dryer :( I also wanted this to be a zero cost project. I thought natural might be the way to go. So I started my search of everything I could use to dye my old white skirt.




There was a lot of mention of plants that I hadn't heard of and was in no mood to go hunting.. I thought a purplish pink might be nice but I didn't want to waste berries. And then I stumbled upon Itty Bitty Impact Tonia suggested turmeric for a bright yellow and I couldn't think of a better color and an easier source of dye. Turmeric is something always found in my kitchen, perfect for my no cost project.






Supplies:
White Vinegar - for plant dyes or salt - for berry dyes.

Turmeric

Large Pot - I used steel though Tonia mentions Aluminum is preferred.

My skirt

Rubber gloves

Method:

I washed my skirt on cold and dried it on low. Then simmered it in a large pot for one hour in a mixture of water and vinegar (four parts water to one part vinegar). The vinegar is supposed to act as a fixative.



I rinsed and wrung the fabric in cold water until it no longer smelled like vinegar and set it aside, still damp. Then rinsed out the pot and filled it with fresh water sans vinegar. The water was brought to a simmer and then I added the turmeric, about 2tbsp's. I let it continue to simmer for another 10 minutes before adding the still damp skirt.



Initially I was thinking of making the skirt ombre but that didn't happen. I think my turmeric to water ratio was a bit off.. too much turmeric plus I had a child attached to me legs. The shrieking and tugging made the rest of the process a bit fuzzy.

So I just let the entire fabric submerge in the dye bath. According to Tonia, you are supposed to let the fabric simmer for 15 minutes occasionally stirring so that the fabric doesn't stick or burn. (Now that would not be fun) and then you are to turn off the heat and let the fabric remain in the bath for as long as you like depending on the shade you want.

I could tell that my skirt was already quite bright even before the first 15 minutes were up so I went with my gut and took the skirt out within that time. Donned my rubber gloves and rinsed the skirt out in cold water till the water ran clear.



Tossed the skirt in the dryer and tada!

This little project was done a few days before we left for our trip.. this is me in Richmond.

I know my blogging has been all over the place.. timeline wise. I have so much going on and so many posts to be but not enough time to write them. So the road trip I took in the end of May still hasn't been completely blogged about but then are other interesting projects or events taking place that I wan't to share too.. so things may not be very chronological at present and I apologize. I intended to get back into the road trip post next week but D's birthday in this weekend and how can I not share pics of the big day? And by popular request I also plan on remaking my banana walnut stuffed french toast over the weekend and take pictures to add to go along with the recipe I intend to share.. too much going on and not enough of me to go around. But the fact that you keep coming back to read and leave the loveliest comments makes it all worth it in the end. And for those of you not commenting.. please.. do.. I cherish each and every one of them.