Rit Dye Failure

I spend a lot of time on this blog posting about the projects that turn out as expected.  The truth is that there are plenty of project that never see the light of day because they don't come out just right.  This is a Rit Dye idea that turned out - in an unexpected way.

Water Color Technique

I wanted to create a dyed dress using the Water Color Technique I'd seen on Pinterest.  According to Rit Studios if I put concentrated dye on fabric I could achieve the desired result.

I started with a circle skirt

I started with a wet plain white cotton sheet that was cut into a circle skirt and halter top.  Click HERE for more on Circle Skirts/Dresses.

Gather the Dye

I gathered my dye.  I used 1 cup of hot water and 1 pkg of powdered dye for green, yellow and blue.  I used liquid dye straight from the bottle for the 2 shades of purple.

Dying the Top

I dipped half of the halter top in the yellow dye.  Using a sponge I painted on 2 different shades of purple.

Adding Purple

I continued to add layers of color until the top was as dark as I liked.

Layers of Color

Working on the skirt, I added layers of dye directly to the fabric.

Layering Color

I used a sponge to dye the center of the circle yellow and the outter edge of the skirt green.

Sponge to add dye

Layer after layer I added dye.  First purple.

Adding layers of color

Then blue and lavender.

Layers of color

The skirt was laid out on a picnic table.  I worked round and round the skirt adding layers of color.

More color layers

Finally when I felt that the dress had enough color, I left it to dry overnight.

Done layering

I was THRILLED with the pattern and color of the skirt.  I not so secretly hoped that the colors would stay this bold.

After the wash

The next morning I rinsed and then washed out the dye.  I was disappointed.  The colors seemed faded and boring to me.  Gone was yesterday's bold color splashes.  I was left with what felt like a muddled mess.

Dye Puddles

In addition to faded color, the skirt also retained marks where the dye had pooled into the crevices on the picnic table.

Fabric Paint

Because I wanted darker colors, I decided to buy fabric paint to fix the problem.

Fabric Painted

I sponge painted a relatively small portion of the dress top and decided that I HATED the look!

Crafting for me is about having fun and saving money.  Between dye, paint, sponges and a white sheet from the thrift store I'd spent $30 and still didn't have anything I liked.  That's when I came up with another idea.

Alcohol + Paint

Using an empty spray bottle I mixed rubbing alcohol (we only had wintergreen) and fabric paint.

1 part paint and 1 part alcohol

Using 1 part paint and 1 part alcohol I began to spray the dress with a fine mist of paint.

1 layer of blue spray paint

Working slowly, adding 1 color at a time, I sprayed on paint until the fabric was as dark as I liked.

Sprayed!

I used indigo and purple paint mixed with alcohol in 2 separate spray bottles.

Sprayed!

When the skirt was dark enough I let it dry overnight.

Drying in the sun

For the record, I'm still not happy with the results.

Dyed and Spray Painted

Because I'd sunk a lot of time and money into this project, I decided to go ahead and finish the dress.  (A shining example of Sunk Cost Fallacy).  Nevertheless, I persist!

I turned the sponge painted fabric into pockets.

Pockets

That way they're not wasted -- they're also not visible.

Dress Pockets

The rest of the fabric was sewn into a dress.

Attic dress

This dress now sits on a dress form in the corner of the attic.  I hope that one day soon I'll look at this dress and be excited about it.  For now it's just a messy, expensive, splotchy dress sitting in a corner.

 With tea party season approaching there's an excellent chance that I'll have a change of heart and she'll get her day in the sun.

You never know!

UPDATE:
In the end I decided to wear this dress and it was a huge hit!!  Here are pix.




For more Rit Dye Adventures, click HERE!

For SUCCESSFUL ReFashion projects, click HERE!