Adventures in dyeing

I'm back. I took a short break from this blog, and it turned into a year long break. So I thought I'd start back up with an exciting post about dyeing fabric!

I found what at one point had been a nifty white skirt with black polka-dots at a thrift store. However, the black dots were somewhat faded and the white was more of a light grimy gray. It fit pretty well though, so I decided to get it anyway and dye it some fun color.

I used my washing machine and let the fabric agitate in hot water for an hour. I stuck a yardstick under the lid to keep the washer from going into the spin cycle. The heavy duty cycle on my washer agitates for about 15 minutes, so I had to restart the washer four times before letting it go into the normal spin and rinse cycles. I then washed everything once more in cold water to rinse everything out really well.

The bottle said to use 1 cup of dye per two pounds of dry fabric. I wanted a lighter color, so I went with 1/2 cup of kelly green and 1/4 cup of denim dye. The results still turned out a little lighter than I wanted, but that's okay. Next time I'll add a lot of salt (for cotton fabric) to help set the dye better.

One thing to remember when dying clothes is that cotton picks up the dye much much easily than anything else. In the picture below you can see that the zipper is still white, and so is the white polyester thread.

And here's my nice new green skirt! I might hem it to knee length, but haven't decided for sure so I'll probably wear it once at this length before making any more changes.

Since it would be a shame to go to all that effort for just one skirt, I threw a lot of other test items in as well.

First up is a white cotton skirt that I never wore because, well, it was white.

I'm still not sure if I'm going to wear the skirt, but at least it's not bright white anymore.
 

Next up was a white polo shirt. If you haven't caught on, I don't tend to wear lots of white. I also already had another white polo, without the silly hot pink ribbon around the neckline. Even though it's on the inside, the pink ribbon was always visible and I didn't like how it made the polo look less dressy.

 

Once again, a lesson in what materials pick up dye and what materials don't. The pink ribbon appears to be cotton since it picked up a lot of the green-blue dye and turned navy, but the polyester thread used to stitch the ribbon to the neckline stayed hot pink.

 I think I will actually wear the polo now!

The last thing I threw in the dye bath isn't wearable yet. It is a really cheap (as in cheaply-made fast fashion) skirt I got at a thrift store. I love the patchworkiness but the elastic at the top is totally shot and the lighter patches are see through, so it'll take some work to make it into a wearable skirt.

I tried to take a modeling picture showing how the waistband elastic is shot, but that's about the time Dr. Richard Pussycat Feynman became interested in what I was doing and the photo shoot had to end for the day.

Gray ruffle skirt

I made this simple skirt out of two gray pillowcases. I couldn't find the right color gray in broadcloth, but I saw it on the bed sheet aisle...weird. It's just a straight skirt with an elastic waist, and the ruffle is made from the wide hem of the pillowcases.

I've noticed that a lot of my clothes end up looking crooked in pictures. I promise I can cut and sew straight lines and my hems really are even, I just can't seem to stand up straight in pictures!

Tutorial: Easy way to fix a stretched out or too-large waistband

I found this nifty broomstick skirt at the Downtown Rescue Mission Thrift Store. Unfortunately it was a size too big and the elastic on the waistband was all stretched out so when I put it on I looked like the "after" picture in a diet ad. But the skirt was in good shape and worth saving. I suppose I could have carefully seam-ripped out the old elastic and replaced it, but I'm all about quick and easy solutions. This tutorial covers a quick and easy way to fix a stretched out or too-large waistband without removing the old elastic.

First wrap a piece of elastic around your waist to determine the correct size waistband. I made my waistband slightly tighter than I wanted the skirt in the end because there's a lot of bulk to the skirt, which will stretch the elastic out a little once it's sewn onto the skirt. Sew the ends of the elastic together so you have a continuous band.

Pin the elastic to the inside of the original waistband, distributing it evenly around. 

Sew the elastic to the old waistband using a zig-zag stitch, stretching the elastic to fit the original waistband size in the process. So in the end, when the new elastic is unstretched, the old waistband will be gathered somewhat. I had to use both hands to hold the new elastic stretched out while sewing; one hand held it in front of the presser foot and one hand behind the presser foot.

 
You should end up with a nice line of zig-zag going all around the elastic on the inside.

 

And if you've chosen a matching thread color you should only just be able to see the stitching on the outside of the waistband. I was out of brown thread to match the skirt, so I used maroon, but it's still close enough that you can only just see it. Normally my shirt will end up covering the waistband anyway.

Now the waistband of your skirt should be fitted to the right size!

Two new spring skirts

I whipped up two new skirts for spring from some cotton fabric I found on sale for $1/yard. I bought 1.5 yards of each, so both skirts only cost $1.50. Now if only it would warm up so I can wear them!

I made this black one last night. It's just a simple straight skirt with an elastic waist.

Today I made a A-line skirt with this blue Hawaiian fabric. It's more fitted at the waist so I used a short zipper to close it.

If I make enough spring-y clothes the weather will cooperate, right?