Dying Cotton Clothes

FROM THIS...

 

TO THIS.

 

 

 

I am here to show you how to make the kaki cotton fishing vest into the black beauty you see after.  I needed a black vest to dress my husband in for his 2017 Star Wars themed Family Reunion.  So, I hunted like crazy through thrift stores and sport supply shops and just anywhere I thought I might find something that could look like a modern day Han Solo.  Finally, I found the Field and Stream (exactly what I was looking for) but in kaki, it had too many pockets and zippers but, it fit my spouse and it was never worn and completely made of cotton.  For $6.79 it was mine.  Now, I just needed it to be black.

 

First I got your classic RIT dye.  I tried powder, liquid, adding salt, adding vinegar, cooking, letting it sit, well, just about every technique I could find but I just could make it look any darker than the "brown" vest pictured below.

 

It was so very frustrating.  My husband continued to tell me that it was fine, and it looked black to him but, as you can see it is not.  I was just about to give up when I decided to hit up Joann's to see what other options of dye they had.  When I hit up Joann's, the customer service rep at the cutting counter said that if the RIT dye couldn't do the job than no dye could and I should try washing it with RIT White Wash first.   I left there with his thumbs up to using RIT dye but was skeptical, so I also purchased one envelope of Dylon black dye.  I tried for the 5th time with White Wash first then RIT dye black afterwards with the same results. BROWN** BROWN** BROWN.  I was screaming in my kitchen!

 

It was time to try Dylon.  Well folks, it worked the first time and I could tell almost instantly that it would.  The water was the magic marker black you'd expect from a true black and the fabric almost instantly absorbed it.

 

 

Ingredients to dying cotton clothes:

Cotton Cloth/Clothes of choice

(just note that any thread or piece of fabric not made of cotton or dye able fabric it may vary in color)

Dylon Dye of your choice

16oz Jar of Salt for every 1lb of fabric (I used two)

Water (enough to cover the item of cloth)

Large Cooking pot (there are other methods but I chose the cooking option)

Rubber Gloves

 

 

 

 

 

Mix all the ingredients in the pot on Med-High and cook the item while stirring the pot and tugging and bending the fabric so it gets fully coated in the dye.  I cooked it for 30 minutes making sure it never got to the point of boiling.  It basically needs to simmer.  It completely set and coated the item of clothing rinse it off.  I rinsed my in the sink in the garage.  Be aware that the dye can and will stain things like porcelain tubs.  After the water runs clear it's time to put it through the washer.  This is truth hour.  If the dye truly did set in the fabric it will just wash off the extra dye that stuck around in between the fibers and leave you with nothing but the dyed fabric.  (don't worry about your washer, the dye will wash clear off)  If the dye stuck your fabric should look the same as it did in the pot.  YEAH!  You have just successfully dyed your first piece of clothing or cloth. :)

 

 

 

 

 Here is the after shot.  I also ended up cutting away the zippers and a few more pockets and I stitched down the flap on the back of the vest so the polyester mesh that would peek through.

 

 

Here you can see my husband in all his cuteness and he and I below.  His shirt was just a off white button down that we snipped the collar off of and the gun holster was made with brown vinyl and thrift store children's belts.  It was made to hold his cell phone instead of a laser blaster.

 

 

Come back and see me soon. I will you something cool. Maybe even how to make the blaster holster for you modern day cell phone users.