Dyeing Fabric

Looking back at baby Clara kills me every time. How does the human body grow from that tiny thing, to a 6 year-old who wants to dye her hair blue??? Heyyyyy…..heyyyyy….maybe we’re on to something here?

I did spend a lot of time dyeing her baby onesies.
And she did spend some time wearing those onesies.
Maybe there’s a strange telepathic-osmosis love for dyeing things??
Or maybe she’s just a spunky girl who loves color as much as I do.

Either way, dyeing fabric is super fun and can be super easy.
I just use a bowl, and some gloves.  And it’s always an adventure.

I’ve used this technique for a variety of fabrics and elastic over the years (which looks super cute on a circle skirt).

And when Owen wanted to be Nick Wilde from Zootopia a couple years ago…..well I couldn’t find a green shirt in the store. So bada-boom, bada-bang.
Green dye = green shirt.

Of course, dressing Clara up in the 9 different onesies I had dyed around Easter time is probably one of my favorite uses of the technique.
In goes the egg….

Out comes the fun….

Ready to dye fabric??
Just press the play button below and enjoy.
(Or if you don’t see it, you can WATCH IT HERE.)

And when you’re done, add a cute little stencil on top:

Check out this post for the details.

  1. 1) bdaiss

    Thanks for the reminder that I have a pile of curtains that need to be dyed. (They were great until we repainted the dining room and now they need a pick me up.)

    • 2) Dana

      Hahaha. Oh man, I have to say that working on curtains might be one of my least favorite projects.
      Maybe you can just scrap it and sew a fun dress instead?? ????

  2. 3) lisa

    We are on water restrictions out west and I have been postponing my dye projects until someone gives me ways to rinse out the dyes that aren’t so water wasteful. Do you have any suggestions?
    Many thanks!

    • 4) Dana

      That’s actually why I love this method, because you don’t have to run full cycles in your washing machine. I just use a small bowl of water in my sink. As for rinsing, I’m not sure there’s a way around that. You could soak the finished fabric in a bowl of water, then dump and do another bowl and soak again, and rinse, etc, so you’re not constantly running the water. You’ll just have to try what works for you.

      • 5) David Figueroa

        Hola un gusto ver sus trabajos…mi pregunta es como puedo conseguir los tintes y otra es que si al teñir no se usa algun fijador para que no se destiña??ojala pueda atudarme

  3. 6) Mary

    How very ADORABLE YOU ARE , as well as your precious children. Did you really put the Blue in daughters hair or have it done?? What a FUN Mom you are , she will never forget these times Muwah XXXXXXXXXXX
    Hugs to you and your precious family 🙂 Mary

  4. 8) Lisa // Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing & Crafting

    That is so funny, maybe the dyed onesies leading to dyed hair! Haha! And you are so funny in this video!
    Seriously, though, I definitely have to try this. I’ve only done washing machine dye with stained sheets. In the past I’ve wanted to dye just one garment and then thought it was too much of a waste to do that in the washing machine, so I never did it. Where I live I only find powder, and it never occurred to me that I could do smaller doses like that! Thanks for the tip! 🙂 Lisa

    • 9) Dana

      Hahaha. Thanks Lisa 🙂
      And yes….the dyeing vibes must be, in the dye. hehehe.
      Go for it! Try it out!

  5. 10) Shanaaz

    Omg those colours look sooooooo cute with the baby????

  6. 11) caitlin

    I never even think about dyeing shirts. I’ve spent so much time searching the internet for colored shirts and I could have just dyed them.

  7. 12) Mindy

    Here’s a question for you, Dana. My daughter’s favorite jacket has bleach splashed spots that I’ve tried dying over but, alas, it failed. Have you had any success completing bleaching the color out and then re-dying it?

    • 13) Dana

      Aw bummer. Sorry! I haven’t tried that, but I guess if it’s already ruined you might as well give it a shot??

  8. 14) jackie

    When my daughter got bleach splatter on a favorite orange sundress, I “reverse” splatter dyed it with more bleach. Just splattered on sparingly in a random pattern, then rinsed out immediately. I came out super cute and became her NEW favorite dress

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