Has anyone done this? Comments or suggestions? I want to dye a sweatshirt.
I have done this somewhat successfully with the following process. However: you do want to determine what fabric your sweatshirt is because that will determine what dye you need to use. If it’s cotton, use regular Rit dye. If it’s cotton-poly, polyester, rayon, or nylon, you’ll probably need to use Rit Dye-More, which requires constant heat on a stovetop.
Either way, first you’ll mix up your dye to the color/intensity you want. Then you’re going to put some kind of contraption above your dye pot that allows you to adjust the amount of fabric in the pot. I used an old clothes hanger and clothespins or binder clips and hung it from the stove vent above my dye pot (since I did this on microfiber sheets).
You need to decide where your color breaks are - what’s your lightest and darkest color and where do they fall on the fabric? Mark them using chalk or pins or whatever works, as long as it makes sense to you.
Now- the intensity of the color depends on how long you leave it in the dye bath for. Decide your timing - how long you’re going to leave each tone in the bath for.
The first /lightest shade is going to be first. Clip the part you want out of the water (whatever the top is going to be) to your hanger. Put the other end in the dye bath up to the highest point of your gradient. Let sit and check it until its the shade you want. Make note of how much time it took to get that shade.
Now pull it up and clip the excess so that the next darkest shade is the part remaining in the dye bath. Leave it for longer than you left the first section. When you do the next section, you’ll extend the time in the dye bath longer than the first two combined, and so on.
Now repeat until you have a gradient effect. After you remove it from the dye bath completely, hang it up (OUTSIDE!) and let the excess water and dye drip off - the darkest part of your gradient should be at the bottom - and let it slowly drip down to the bottom of the fabric and eventually drain off from the fabric entirely. When it’s mostly dry, you can rinse it. I recommend putting it in the shower and rinsing towards the bottom of the gradient until the water runs clear. Then you can put it in the washer.
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Thank you for taking the time to write such a well-thought-out reply!
Since I have struck out finding a sweatshirt that’s more than 50% cotton, I guess I have to go the route of the boiled Rit Dye-More. The thing I saw online said that I need 3 gallons of (nearly) boiling water.
I guess my question is how much the project will suffer if the fabric is kinda crowded in the pot? I want the sleeves to match the body and it seems like the easiest way to do that is to put the sleeves in the pot at the same time as the body.
And also, do you use vinegar or anything to set the color?
EDIT: I’m going to make up some numbers to see if I understand your directions above. Let’s pretend I want three color sections. Let’s say that I put the first section in for 5 minutes. Then I retract some fabric out of the pot and I leave the next section in the dye for an additional 10 minutes (i.e., more than section 1). Then I retract again and I leave the final section in the dye for an additional 15 minutes (i.e., greater than the first two combined). Do I understand that right?
Honestly I use an old crappy stew pot I got at the thrift store. It’s not much good for cooking anymore so it’s a craft pot now. The thing about the dye-more is that it will stain EVERYTHING.
I dont use any vinegar or additive, but the Dye-More line has a fixative you can use.
You’re correct in understanding the process and timing. It doesn’t matter too much if it’s a little crowded, as long as all of the fabric gets soaked with the dye. You can always swish it around with tongs to make sure every part gets submerged.
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Just make sure that you’re moving the fabric that’s in the pot enough that it all gets an even amount of dye.
Rit sells a fixative. Which is a good thing, as their dye used to keep bleeding out. And out… and out. But that was several decades ago. I’m hoping that their fixative is good.
As I read it, you have the right understanding for achieving the ombre look. Remember that some dye is going to wash out, even in the lightest layer.
And, while I was annoyed enough (decades ago) with Rit to switch to Dylon, it says that doesn’t work on polyester, so the Rit Dye-more sounds like the way to go – according to google, that is.
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Prochem is also excellent dye
It doesn’t turn up too well in this photos but I dip dye ombre’d this thrifted dress using rit dye more and some prochem powdered dye. I used an old big pasta pot for this. Just don’t forget to label it as dye use only.
Definitely set up a tarp/dye proof your work area and some system to hang the shirt above the pot when you pull out the segments. Hanging it over the side tends to get unevenness.
Also, open your window, it can get smelly.
If you want the demarcation between layers to be less, use more frequent but small timers.
You might try basting the sleeves down in line with the area you want to dye up too if having them be consistent with the torso is important.
Good luck!
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That’s absolutely gorgeous! Drop dead gorgeous! I am stunned.
Between your response and @Shelby_Sand 's reply, I’m reluctant to do this boiling it on my kitchen stove. That just doesn’t bode well for what my kitchen will look like afterwards.
I looked up the Prochem dyes and it looks like it also has to be boiled.
Thanks!
So I have boiled the water and transferred to a bucket before. honestly as long as you take some prep precautions it’s not that bad. I set up a tarp on my kitchen floor and transferred the boiling water down there. I think mostly the boiling is to dissolve the dye fully and open the pores of the fabric. It should be ok if it doesn’t stay at boiling if that is what you’re worried about. You could either set up a trivet or pour the water into a larger bucket/bin. I don’t recall how long the actual dying too for the dress. It’s not a crazy long time. If you don’t have a big enough boiling container, just boil some, dissolve the dye, then boil additional water and add it to the bucket before starting your dyeing
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I have tentatively decided to boil the water on the stove, add the (liquid) dye and take the pot outside and put it on my grill to keep it warm. I’m guessing I need 30 minutes for the darkest shade, but IDK.
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If you use the dye fixative, do you use that while it’s still wet from the dying, or do you let it drip dry first?
I would use the fixative while it’s still wet from the dye. In ordinary dyeing, I’d add the fixative to the dye bath.
I didn’t watch the video – just read the notes:
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Get a turkey fryer at a thrift store?
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