lessons in dying

Just before V Festival I came to the shocking conclusion that I didn't have any black trousers or skirts suitable for their uniform! Not even a dress I could pass off as a skirt. On the second day I did find I wasn't doing too much moving or heavy lifting so went for my AA dress, but before I went I had no idea.

I remembered some once black drainpipes that were now a sludgy grey. I'd been meaning to do some tie-dye for ages and thought it was the perfect time to re-dye the jeans and throw in a few random things. I went by a great That's Just My Vibe entry but my carelessness lead to disaster!

I threw in a grey H&M vest and tied a few knots in it and for some reason a red skirt that I don't wear in favour of another similar red skirt. The results were not pretty. For one thing, the knots fell out of the skirt and vest so they both just ended up black! I think in the future I would use hand dye to prevent this. Also, I must have left a tissue or receipt on a pocket because everything came out covered in the tiny white bits, argh! I threw away the skirt because it just couldn't be salvaged and wore the jeans anyway, the bits rubbed off. If that wasn't the worst thing, the jeans are a few years old and had frayed a bit behind the knees. The red skirt must have been the cause of the fraying getting ten times worse and turning a sort of neon orange colour. Doomed I tell you!

Comments

[WendyB]

Oh no! I recently did the laundry and there must have been a tissue in there. It's amazing how much of a mess that makes.

[Shesdressingup]

Recently I put a tissue in the wash by accident and it came out still whole! It was actually amazing
Thats annoying that the tie-dye didn't work, I did some recently but I dyed the item black first and then just hand-bleached it, quite like Thats Just My Vibe suggests.

[Lady Julianne le Fay]

I stick to hand dying just because you can give it a stir and see how it's doing by rinsing bits out, and then plonk it back in if it needs more time.

Did you weigh all the items before washing them? It's important to make sure you use enough dye for the weight. If you only used one packet I can't imagine it was enough.

[MHBass]

maybe you should have used cold dye? 9when you just do it in a saucepan). perhaps the washing machine was too violent and koncked all the knots out?! i dunno!

[Chic Looks]

grrhh!!!!!!! I tried dyin a dress some months back now and well it was a huge disaster, I reckon you should check youtube, their are quite a few good "how to tie dye" videos on there, this one is me fav http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tl7EldysVE&feature=related

I havent got round to trying it myself but I reckon I will pretty soon, hope its useful :)

[Chic Looks]

this one is quite good as well - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zFv7rs0jsQ&feature=related

[Emily]

I've never tried it before, but I just know I'd be rubbish at dying stuff. I hate it when you accidentally leave a tissue in your pocket (done it quite a few times!)

[kirsty lee]

ah cheers for the mention. though i somehow feel responsible for the results!

i hate the tissue thing too. i left some paper in a pocket recently and it seems to have clogged up the whole washing machine.

[tinkerbell and fairies]

wow.
Looked like you had an eventful day!

[keepitsleazy]

I would have just redyed them.. I'm always redying stuff, due to my lack of initially reading instruction - instructions are for squares. Squares with perfectly dyed black trousers and more money.

I use Dylon in my machine, i usually do one pair of jeans and two tops (or the equivalent).. They come out pretty much black. Like so.. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/3086749717_3b9bae31a2_m.jpg