Wardrobe thriftyness

Well friends, work is getting busy, so my posts might be few and far between for the next few weeks. Sorry!

In my attempt to be more thrifty with my hard earned money, I've made a vow not to purchase any clothing for myself until at least September, if not later.  Due to this, I have been making the effort to reassemble all my clothes into new outfits and do my best to change it up.  I've scoured my closet for a few things that I no longer wear and I'm in the process of revamping them into new clothes that are good for the season.

Dyeing clothing is a simple way to refurbish your wardrobe for less than $5.  The best part is, you can mix and match your colors and techniques to get the perfect item!

My current project started out looking like this:

Pale pink really does not flatter my skin tone.

I decided to experiment by dyeing it with navy blue dye.  All you need for this is a package of dye (I like Rit brand) and your preferred method (Check the back of the dye package for different methods.)  For this top, I filled a bucket with 2 cups of boiling water and sprinkled the packet in.  I then added one cup of plain old table salt.  I put the bucket in my bathtub and swirled it around to mix the dye and the salt.  Don't forget to wear gloves and an apron!  I then filled the rest of the bucket, about 3/4 full with hot water from the tap.  I soaked the shirt in clean water and then put it in the bucket, and swirled it around for about 5 min. 


Technically, I was supposed to stir it constantly for 10-30 min; however, I got lazy and just let it soak for about 10 more min.  I then rinsed the shirt under cool running water until the water ran clear.  According to the directions I was supposed to wash the shirt and then dry it.  I chose to lay it on an old towel to dry so the color set and then washed it the following day. 

Now, due to the fact that this shirt was light colored to begin with, I just went ahead and dyed it.  The result was more purple than navy blue.  See below:

If I had truly wanted a deep navy blue, I could have used a color remover on the shirt first, and then dyed it.    I love the color this turned out to be.  For some reason, the lace trim didn't take the dye and stayed white.  I think it looks good! Much more flattering for me! 

For more dyeing techniques check out this site:  http://www.ritdye.com/