dye job

About a month ago, I bought this dress at Target.  I love the dress - it fits so well and can easily be dressed up or down.   The only problem little I had is that I wanted it in navy....and it's only available in black, coral, mint, or cream.  So, I bought the cream and some navy blue dye and a huge cheap bucket {found in the seasonal section for $7} and a pack of rubber gloves because no one needs blue hands.

I have never dyed clothing before but it was really easy.  I just followed the instructions on the bottle and mixed together the suggested amount of boiling water with the suggested amount of dye.  I put a glove on one hand and dunked the dress into the bucket.  The gloved hand stirred the dress around for about 45 minutes.  This part was pretty boring but I guess that is why god invented candy crush and words with friends.  Needless to say, I kept myself entertained :).

After sloshing the dress in the bucket of blue dye, the final step is to "rinse until the water runs clear" which takes forever!  I gave up, hung the dress over the side of the sink and revisited this the next day.  When the water was clear-ish {still a tiny bit murky} I called it a day and threw it in the wash with other dark clothing.

It came out washed and looking nearly perfect.  I totally surprised myself with this one. Before attempting to dye the dress, I  and was fully open to the fact that the end result would be disastrous.  I was hoping for a deep navy blue but this color works.  Certain fabrics will take to dye in different ways and that definitely happened with this dress.  The lining turned gray rather than blue but the contrast is pretty.

If you're in the market for a lace shift dress {aren't we all?} buy this one.  I hope I see it marked down so I can get it in another color or maybe another cream one.  A dip dye look would be amazing.

Top two photos taken by me, the rest are courtesy of Anna Delores Photography for my 2013 fall/holiday line.  All pieces will be available this September.