So a couple of weeks ago I told you about the Ruffle Pillows featured on Groopdealz? Well I got 4 in the mail this weekend. I love the beautiful ruffles as well as the zipper closure. I also had two pillow forms gathering dust in storage and they were a perfect fit — don’t ya love it when that happens?
However, as wonderful and neutral as cream is I decided I wanted 2 of them to go in my newly remodeled guest room. Cream would have worked but I wanted gray. So why not try dying them? Now the only experience I have had with textile dying is when I bought dyed shoes and a purse to match my teal sequined dress for prom my junior year{giggle}.
So I checked out Rit Dye’s website and they have a fabulous resource on there where you can pick your color out and they tell you what dye to buy and even what dyes to mix. I never even thought about mixing them to create a custom color. I decided to go for a Light Gray which, according to their chart, said to mix 1/4 tsp. of Black liquid dye for every 1 cup of water. I did the sink dye procedure with hot water.
So I did as I was told and for the first few minutes it looked like purple. I even checked the container to make sure I purchased the black dye and not purple. So I panicked and put more black in the water. I probably doubled the amount. Why can’t I just be patient and follow directions?
After the prescribed time I took it out and washed it and sure enough…it was gray, but darker than the color I was going for. But, in the end, I still love it and I have learned a valuable lesson…follow directions numbskull!
So have you worked with dye before? I think I might be in love. I am thinking of all the dying possibilities and I am excited to experiment some more.
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HA! I got one of these and was thinking the same thing!! Glad to know it works!! 🙂 I was actually wondering how to make it ombre….that one might take some major thought!!
Good luck on that one. I would love to see it.
I love these!!! And yes I have worked with Rit dye before…. LOTS! pants, shirts, bags, pillows, sheets, towels, and just about anything that didn’t move. tie dye, ombre (which is easy but time consuming… maybe I should do a tutorial on it!), painted, and regular ole’ dying. It is one of those weird fascinations of mine!! 🙂 I especially love using natural dyes.
Have fun!
Peggy I totally want to try the ombre technique.
I love them better than the originals. If you wash them a few times the dye will fade, RIT is wonderful but unless you really set it it does fade. My Mom and I dye all kind of stuff and I NEVER measure but them I am not very concerned with how stuff turns out. I just go with it baby! LOL Good work, love them!
Oh I love the color on them. I would have never dared to dye them for fear of ruining them since they are so cute to begin with! I remember my mom used to use black RIT to dye my brother’s work pants (he worked at some fast food joint years ago) and they faded all the time & so she just kept re-dying them! But to use it for something like this is just fabulous!
Girl…that is sooo cute!!! And I’m going to need more prom pics.
😉
shaunna
HAHA…sequins where hot back then…I SWEAR!
Love it my friend! I need some grey ruffle pillows! I never think to use Rit Dye…Love your prom dress!
I told my husband if I can ever fit in that dress again I am wearing it on my date night. 😉
I loved the color on them. That is so cute. Rit dye is always famous for fashion wearing as well.
Hmmm. I would’ve thought adding more water would have the opposite effect and make the fabric lighter than you expected…that doesn’t make sense to me, but then again, I am not an expert on dyeing.
No I added more dye not more water. Did I say it wrong? i will have to go back and check.
I understand – I tend to panic and due stuff like that a lot, actually! LOL! I really love the dark grey, though! It looks fantastic!
Oh, I love it!!! It turned out really nicely…very good, uniform color. Will look pretty in your guest room. 🙂
Oh how I LOVE Rit dye! That color is beautiful! I love the dark grey.
First of all, I love those ruffle pillows!
I had some experience at dying myself. A few months ago I dyed some white cotton ribbon with black dye because I wanted grey, sadly my ribbon got purple like your pillow, which looks cute but I wanted my ribbon to be gray anyways.
After some research, I found out you can add green to the dye mix and that somehow prevents it from getting purple, also the mix shouldn’t be very diluted. It worked for me but it always depends on the dye brand.
Oh those ruffle cushions are gorgeous ,and I think your dye experiment worked in your favour – I love the rich deep grey colour. x
Yay! The more I look at them the more I love the rick tone the dye job did. Thanks for your compliments.
Pillows are awesome, but lets talk about that purse!!! Talk about cool. Dang. I want that dress something fierce.
{giggle} I am sure I have it around here somewhere 😉
Totally dying….and not over dying – that’s fab-…over your dress. My friend had the same one! I’m trying to find a picture!
Omgosh i gotta see1
Beckie, I LOVE those pillows! I may want to try these dye products too. It’s nice to see someone else try it first (hee, hee)!
Thanks! I think they are back on sale on Groopdealz today.
It’s only 2 years after you posted this dyed pillow and I am sure you have several other dyed projects under your belt by now. I just need to share with you to try dyeing your blue jeans if you prefer darker denim vs. lighter or faded. I was able to get a few more miles out of mine.
Love your blog but mostly I love YOU! You can find the recipe through rit dyes website.
OOOPs I guess it hasnt been quite as long as I thought. Okay so my math is a bit off!
Hi Letty my love, miss you girl. I remember you saying that about your blue jeans. I have yet to try it but I always think of you when I think about doing it.