This year has been a bit of a strange one… I spent it preparing to move abroad and that included a lot of sorting through the house, trying to make myself as portable as possible. The bulk of my possessions live in my wardrobe and clothes were the first things to go. Over the years, I collected many white tops (shirts, tee-shirts, blouses) – if you read my wardrobe cull post, you will know – I also realised I don’t wear white that often. Some items went straight to my depop store, others to charity and some were put aside on a special pile, waiting for the right DIY project.
DIY quickly turned into DYE and within minutes I was on the , picking my colours. I am a long time convert of home dye jobs. They are the quickest, simplest way to transform clothing. I’ve used Dylon dyes in the past to revive washed out black tee-shirts but also to totally change the look of an item of clothing. I was going to show you a pair of jeans I dyed from pink to black (because the fit is so great but I am really not a pink jeans kinda gal) but the button recently fell off and they are now being repaired. That’s OK, though as I will show you my latest adventures in fabric dye instead…
I had several items to work with this time: two tops, linen trousers and some Superga plimsolls. I decided to create a co-ord outfit using the oversized peplum top and the linen trousers which I dyed using . They are both made from natural fibres with synthetic stitching, so I knew the stitching would stay white. This creates an interesting detail for the co-ord. For the shoes and the other top, I used Dylon China Blue Machine Dye which is a beautiful shade, slightly deeper than a pastel tone.
The process was so easy: I added the dye to the drum of my washing machine, popped the clothes in for a 40C cycle and watched them spin as I was working at my desk… Once that was finished, I took them out and checked that the dye was nice and uniform (it was perfect!). I put them back in for another 40C cycle (normal wash this time). The last step was to just run the machine empty to make sure there was no remaining dye, and presto! I had brand new clothes! Have a look below and let me know what you think…
ceci n’est pas une blouse blanche…
#teambluejeans