FashionsbyMandy: DIY Dyed Tee

After my last post, Tiffany Hendra of Sanctuary of Style asked if I would do a tutorial on dying clothing. Absolutely, Tiff!! I pretty much just follow the directions on the dye box. A note before we get started, you may want to wear gloves as the dye might get on your hands. Here are the things you'll need:

Your box of dye. I like the "Wine" color. It's the color of my tank in my previous post. For a more intense color use another box of dye. For my tank top I used 2, for this tee I'll just use one. :)

The item you want to dye. This is a plain white tee that I picked up from Goodwill.

Since this tee is cotton, I'm following the directions and adding a cup of salt.

And of course you'll need your washer.

Next thing to do is prep your dye by adding hot water to the dry dye powder (when you use liquid dye you can skip this step).

Add the cup of salt to your washer.

Now it's time to set your dials.

Smallest amount of water possible for what you're dying.

Hottest water your fabric will allow.

Longest wash time available.

While the washer is filling add the dye.

I use the running water to rinse out the measuring cup (and clean it later with bleach).

Now soak your tee (or whatever) in the hot water. Be sure to get it completely wet with no dry spots.

Then put it in the washer as stretched out as possible.

Now set your alarm because you'll need to reset the cycle BEFORE the rinse cycle starts!!

Tic-toc, tic-toc. DON'T miss resetting the cycle! If you do, your item will be splotchy (and not in a cute tie dye kind of way), and you'll have to start all over. Tic-toc, tic-toc.

RESET

Let it run through, then put your tee in the dryer! (Or hang it if you prefer.)