Hey everyone! I'm back from a lovely spring break in the Chi with a backlog of DIYs to share.
I finally found a white collared shirt to dip dye! It's made of 100% cotton, which is best for taking dye. And I used navy blue RIT dye (the bottled kind), although my shirt turned out purple. How did that happen? I don't know. I also don't really mind either. My wardrobe could use more color.
I found the tutorial on Refinery29 and followed it almost exactly. The part where I always skimp on is mixing the dye... fail. You should probably measure out your dye and make correct dye-to-water ratios and know how much salt you need. I usually just dump some dye into a glass bowl of hot water and throw as much salt in as I feel like. DIY stands for Do-It-(MY WAY). The fun of DIY is making things up as you go along!
The only important rules to follow are to wet and ring out your shirt to the point where you want your dye to run up to.
Leave it hanging in the dye for at least 2 hours. After a half hour, pour water down the shirt to encourage the dye to spread upwards. I found that the dye really liked running up the seams, making my front seam like a stripe.
After a few hours, rise your shirt until the water runs clear through it. Use gloves unless you want stained hands. Yes, this will take forever. Patience, grasshopper. Wash it separately from the rest of your clothes; I wouldn't be surprised if dye kept seeping out no matter how much you think it rinsed out.
Here's how mine turned out... bit more purple than navy blue usually is! I like it :] I wore it with my purple cameo ring and DIY suede chain bracelet.
