Dip dye a dress

Got a skirt or a dress that needs an overhaul? Partially dye it to add some pizzazz.

The good folk at Rit Dyes have produced this excellent tutorial on how to create an ombre effect on a skirt, dress, top – or whatever item of clothing you like.

You need:

Skirt, or other item of clothing
Bucket or container for dying
Salt
Rubber gloves
Rit liquid dye
Large metal spoon
Skirt clothes hanger
Clothespins

Method:

1. Get the skirt completely wet in cold water.

2. Start with your bucket or container for dye with enough hot water to cover the entire skirt and about a 1/4 cup of salt. Before putting the skirt in, put just a tiny splash of the liquid dye in and stir it around.

3. Put the entire skirt in the water, swish it around, and remove promptly.

4. Take out some of the water and add another splash of dye.

5. Use a skirt hanger to hold your skirt, and dip the bottom into the dye, swishing the fabric around, and moving up to about the 3/4 mark on the skirt. Move it up and down a lot so you don’t have a sharp line but a faded look.

6. Continue decreasing the water and adding more dye. Dip the skirt in a shorter length each time, continuing to move it up and down, until you have achieved the ombre effect you want.

7. If you want the bottom to be really dark, make the water highly concentrated with dye and use clothespins to hang the skirt above the dye. Make sure you don’t just hang the end of the skirt in with the rest laying on the ground outside the bucket – the dye will creep up the skirt if you do that.