Saturday, April 4, 2009

DIY ~ Ombre/DipDye

Hey guys

So in my closet I had a little white beach dress which I rarely use and because I got it at the mall for very little money, I decided it was do or dye.. ugh lame line, I know..

For all dyeing, please use gloves - dye can be quite harmful to your skin/health.

For dyeing I use Venus fabric dye, which you can get at National Bookstore here in the Philippines. The steps I am going to list may change depending on the type of dye you are using. The instructions are usually on the pack of the dye itself so do not fret.. dyeing is quite easy after your first few attempts.
So I prepared the dye bath by adding boiling water to the dye powder. I used red as my first color. The more dye you use, the bolder the outcome of the color. I used one pack for each color because I was going for a more faded bohemian look.



After dissolving the dye by stirring it with my favorite tool (a pair of wooden chopsticks), I carefully dipped my damp garment into the dye bath. Only dip it as far as you would like the color to run and then hold it at that level. Follow dyeing instructions of the type of dye you are using. For mine, I kept dipping the dress into the bath until I was satisfied with how far up the color was bleeding, and made sure to dip the bottom even more, for it to soak up more dye.


For my dye, I had to add salt and then let the garment soak in the liquid for another 20 mins. I also added more hot water, to speed up the process. After the 20 mins, I mixed the 2nd dye bath. I used black as my second color. I repeated the same steps I used for the red, careful to dip the dress only as far as I wanted the black to seep. If you have more time, you can also let the dye drip for longer, and watch the darker dye collect at the bottom of the garment. This can give you more of a gradient look if done right. When I was happy with the colors I was seeing, I rinsed the dress under running water until the water ran clear.
Lastly, I ironed it under a towel until the dress was dry.



The result:



PS: Thank you all so much for your well wishes ♥

Now go and get inspired!

collage photo cred - RunwayDaily.com

8 comments:

phamzy said...

amazing! you are a diy master!


http://ckuf-info.blogspot.com/

Allie said...

I second that. You are insanely talented. I can't wait to see all your creations in magazines and on WWD, TFS, etc. :)

xoxo.

TINE said...

love it love it love it. I was totally thinking about a diy dye project for my white dress. Thanks for the inspiration.

I'll be setting you up on my bloggy too!

fruitnibbler said...

VENUS DYE!!!
i still have mine from 5 years ago. I dont know they still make those.
Goodjob on the diy. ^^

Unknown said...

that is the best dye job ever. hihi.
i experimented on dyes too a couple of months ago, i used green, but i didnt get the result i want, so a sew some fabric on it to give it a "not so basahan look". hehehe.

but yours is really good. The ones am seeing on Pidro's shirt. Good job!

Wanderlusting said...

Wow I've always been too scared to attempt this but you've given me some confidence. i would love to have a DIY dress like the blue and white one on the bottom left! Hmmm, maybe I will now!

Brian Shane said...

Love it!

Anonymous said...

How many sachet did you use?