Last week I felt an itch for more color in my home — and I couldn't resist scratching! My need for a little more vibrance in a very neutral corner of my home was quickly solved by transforming a trusty pair of linen curtain panels with three boxes of fabric dye.
Rather than just dyeing the curtain panels one solid color, I decided to give the panels a bit of an ombre treatment by blending two analogous colors (neighbors on the color wheel) at the top third section of each panel. To do this, I first prepared a green dye bath made by combining one packet of teal, one packet of yellow, and a little bit of blue Rit Dye powder with steaming hot water in a standard washing machine. Using rubber gloves, I carefully submerged the bottom two-thirds of the curtains into dye bath, and closed the lid to keep in the heat.
Every ten minutes, I checked in on the fabric to see how it was coming along. The longer the fabric stayed in the bath, the more saturated the color became. To achieve this color of green, I soaked the curtains for around 45 minutes.
To avoid submerging the entire curtain panel into the green dye, I pressed closed the lid of the washer while the wash cycle drained the chamber of the dye bath. Then, I put the rest of the curtains inside for the rinse and spin cycles.
After the curtains were spun dry, I removed them and repeated the dye process, only this time with a teal and blue dye mixture and only the top third of the curtains.
Though at first I was pretty nervous to risk my trusty curtains on this little experiment, I must admit, it was rather easy and I'm already scouring my apartment for more fabrics I can dye. Next up? My wardrobe!
Images: Amanda Johnson
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Love it! I've been on a curtain kick recently, and love oogling other people's curtains! Now I wish our old curtains weren't patterend so I could dye them!
I do a lot of dyeing both clothes and decor. Most recently, I dyed a handknit wool throw that was cream colored with lots of cables like an Irish fisherman's sweater. It's now a lovely blue-green color, not unlike the curtains above. I used lukewarm water and the handwash cycle of my washing machine because I didn't want to felt the wool. I left it in for nearly an hour to achieve a nice color. I kept running downstairs to restart the wash cycle, so it could continue to agitate. It came out soft and lovely. Nicer than before.
I've learned a few things. Different textiles take colors differently and natural fibers take color the best. Also different dye colors seem to produce different textures in fabric. I don't know why this is, but I've noticed some colors are make the fabric a little less soft after dyeing.
Always use salt or another mordant to set the color.
Always be careful when washing things after they've been dyed. You don't want to ruin a whole load of wash because the color runs.
Always be careful of layering dyed things on white or light surfaces, until you are very sure the color is fast. My aqua throw is meant for the bottom of a white bed, but I've tested it on an old white sheet, which I dampened a little to make sure it didn't run.
But try it. It's a blast. Even baskets, wood, and wicker, or straw or bamboo placemats work very well. And it's interesting to overdye another color or a pattern with different colors, too. In fact, if you want to co-ordinate lots of fabrics that don't 'go', just dye them all with the same color, light or dark. They'll all be different, but they will coordinate.
The only time I ever dyed something (a shower curtain) it ended up as a disaster. The material was 8 inches shorter than it started out and the color was not what I wanted. From now on I'll purchase the color I require. For me, it's too much of a time investment to justify unreliable results.
Love this effect, but not sure if I'd have the patience to do the double dip.
I've always figured that if I get tired of something, I'll try to dye it first to freshen it up. For the most part it's saved me money and still made it look like a whole new item.
I recently dyed some poly-blend curtains with a woven pattern in them. The dye packs will tell you that anything over a certain percentage of poly won't take the dye evenly, but if you leave the items in the wash cycle for longer, you'll still get a lovely tone - my curtains were a two-tone color, just a lighter version over the pattern and it looks like it was meant to be that way!
Big thing to also remember - if you're doing this in the washer (and I can't even imagine doing it in a large pot on the stove) then run a wash cycle with nothing in there after to get the dye out, and make sure that the next time you wash a load, it's a dark one so if there is even a tiny bit of dye still left it won't show up on the washed load of clothes.
FrankiesGirl: Yes, I made sure to promise my mother over and over again that I would make sure to clean out her washer after using it to dye these curtains! :) I washed it with bleach and detergent and then ran through an empty load. I haven't heard from her in the past few days, so it must be fine!
I love this. I too have plain cream curtains in my bedroom and I'm itching to do something with them.
Amazing article! Through this article I have learned many good things about dye technique. Thanks very much for sharing informative post.
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