Creating a 'New' Scarf - DIY Dyeing

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Supplies Needed:

Dye

Fabric/ item to dye
Salt

Gloves

Metal or glass bowl (or you can use your washer!)
Warm Water

I’ve been on a bit of a fabric dyeing kick lately.  I keep looking in my closet to see what I could dye for a new look.  I dyed a silk dress a few weeks ago (post coming soon), but most recently I wanted to see what I could do with an old scarf. 
  

I picked up a box of Rit dye at the ol’ fabric store.   
Little man helped me pick the color.  He chose navy.

I followed the directions on the box of dye, mostly. 

The directions recommend using a washer to do the dyeing. I have a front load washer and I’m not so sure how it would work, or if I want my washer filled with dye so I opted to use a big glass bowl filled with warm water {maybe not the best technique, but it worked!}. Have you ever used a front load washer to dye clothes? If so, how did that work out for you?

I filled the bowl with warm water, put a little salt in the water, and then sprinkled some of the dye into warm water.   

I soaked the scarf in warm water and then put it into my bowl filled with dye. 

I mixed the scarf around in the bowl with a metal spoon. 

I left the scarf in the bowl for about two hours, mixing around occasionally. 

*Word of advice, when mixing around the content in the bowl, the dye splatters a bit … my off white counter tops now have evidence of my dyeing experience.  Ooops! 

When I took the scarf out and washed it, I didn’t love the way it turned out.  It wasn’t as rich of a color as I’d hoped.  So, I put the scarf back into the bowl of dye {after getting the entire thing wet with warm water} and let it soak again for a few hours.   I didn’t even mix it around much, I just let it sit and soak up the dye.  

The second time around did the trick; the scarf came out dark bold navy.  Perfect!

 

I am happy with the way it turned out!  What do you think?

Have you ever dyed anything?  Any tips you want to share?