DIY Dying Fabric: Bucket dying

Ok so I thought I'd take a break from sewing DIYs to something that anyone can do no matter what your DIY Skill level is. I'm going to be covering how to dye fabric by bucket, stove and machine. They are all fairly similiar in the steps but they all have different results and should be used for different types of dying.

The most common way to dye fabric is by bucket. This is my least favorite way to dye, I don't really recomend using this method. It's very messy and the results aren't always that great.

So then you want to know why I or anyone would use this method. You would use this method of dying if you needed to do a special effect like ombre or tye dying. Still, it's really messy and not always going to turn out right.

What you'll need-
a bucket or tub,
salt or vinegar depending on your fabric.
fabric dye- I recommend RIT dye.
Hot water
and whatever you want to dye.

 

I'm ombre dying a dress. Which I love but is pretty plain. I researched how others ombre dyed their fabric, and most tied off their garment with rubber bands. I wasn't sure about doing this but I went ahead and did it anyway. And because my fabric was cotton I chose to use salt as my staying agent.

 

Now I didn't take pictures of everything so bare with me. You'll want to start by filling your tub with hot water and disolve your salt in said water. I only did about 2 cups of water to 1 cup of salt.

I then added my dye. Mix your dye and salt until well disolved in your water.

 

 

 

Because I'm ombreing my dress I started with just 4 cups of hot water and submerged the bottom layer of my dress.

 

As I dipped my dress further into my tub, I added an additonal 2 cups of water.

 

 

After about 25 minutes you want to rinse out your fabric. You should start by rinsing it in warm water and slowly work towards cold water. Then wash your garment seperatly in cold water.

 

When I finished with this method my dress appeared more tie dyed than ombre.

 

 

Not the look I was going for.