Ombre Dip Dye

My friend had scored a great dress at an estate sale. Unfortunately, the dress had random stain spots that wouldn’t budge. She had asked my to dye the bottom portion of it. I dip dyed it with madder root. First, I prepared the dress by using vinegar as a mordant. ?You mordant your fabric to help the dye stick. Different mordants can be used for different fibers. That is a whole other post. ?I didn’t take pictures of the whole process but I hung the dress outside and dipped the bottom portion into the dye pot. ?I let it sit for an hour. ?This process allows the dye to slowly bleed onto the dress creating the ombre effect my friend wanted.?I placed a rubber band at the point where I did not want the dye to over-bleed. Not necessary, just personal preference.

?During the drying process.

I actually had to re-dip it after I took this photo. Found a few more tiny stains.

Final results:

The dress also had a little flower attached and it also took a dip in the dye pot.

Love the final results. You know how some people can just rock anything? Yep, she is one of those people.

This is worth noting: the fabric of the dress was a cotton/poly blend. I was worried if the dye would take to the dress. Most natural dyes tend to work better with animal fiber vs plant so to throw in a synthetic fiber was a bit worrisome. Keep this in mind when you are attempting to dye fabric using natural dyes.