Dyeing Clothing...like an (almost) free shopping spree

As I mentioned in my last post, I am a Water. I went to a workshop held by one of my best friends and learned about the 4 Elements...Air, Water, Fire and Earth...and how knowing which Element you are can help you choose clothing, make-up and jewelry that will look great on you.  It even helps with which hair styles will be best for you!  You leave with a color fan that easily fits in your purse to help you when you are shopping.  You can find out more about the Element's here and here.

Once I knew my Element, it was time to go through my closet.  About half of the clothing I had was still going to work for me.  The majority of the rest would have been perfect for an Air...too bad I don't have a friend that wears the same size that's an Air!  I decided to give away most of the things I wouldn't be wearing anymore, but decided to try dyeing some of the clothes.

I bought Purple, Royal Blue and Navy Blue Liquid Rit Dye and dug through my pile of clothing.  I pulled out several white items to try and decided to toss in a few colored things too...pink + blue = purple and purple is a great color for a Water. I ended up with a pile of 10 things, here are a few of them...

Check the labels to make sure they are compatible with the dye and then follow the directions on the bottle of dye.  I needed hot water, salt and the dye.

Start by getting the clothing wet. Then mix up the dye and stir...and stir...and stir... I left all my pieces in for about 30 minutes.

Then drain the water and start rinsing out each piece. 

Once the water runs clear (or almost clear) toss them in the wash.

Here is what I ended up with...

From left to right...v-neck t-shirt originally white, dyed with Navy Blue; swirly long sleeved t-shirt originally bubblegum pink, dyed with Navy Blue; Seuss shirt originally cream, dyed with Royal Blue; swirly cardigan originally cream, dyed with Purple; ruffled collar shirt originally white, dyed with Purple

From left to right...v-neck long sleeved t-shirt originally coral, dyed with Navy Blue; crew neck t-shirt originally white, dyed with Royal Blue; tank top originally robin's egg blue, dyed with Navy Blue.

Just wanted to show you a close up of the Seuss shirt...the screen printing wasn't affected by the dye. So now I can kind of dress in my Element even during Dr. Seuss week at school...not sure if the fish are really in my Element! ;-) 

And here are my last two pieces...the top was originally coral and I dyed it with Navy Blue, and the skirt was originally white and I dyed it with Royal Blue...it doesn't have such a purple tone in real life.

So that's how I made some of my Air clothing into Water clothing for under $10!  If you have clothing in your closet that you never wear, it might be fun to try dyeing it to see what you end up with!

~Anika