DIY: Ombre Dye Method

We all love the Ombre hairstyle the exploded overnight… gracing celebrities from Drew Barrymore to Rachel Bilson. There’s something wonderfully funky and elegant about the change of color- so why limit it to just hair?!

Rachel Bilson

Drew Barrymor

Ombre dying methods work on clothes too! The graceful fade from one color to another has been seen all over the runway and in our favorite stores- check out these adorable subtle mint and denim ones from Freepeople.com:

Free People Ombre Shorts

You don’t have to spend big bucks to have funky one of a kind dyed clothes though- just follow these simple steps for an ombre-tastic article of clothing!

Step One: Choose an article of clothing (or a few). I grabbed a $10  mint colored cotton tank from H&M and a pair of $5 light denim shorts from Forever21.

Step Two: Prepare the dye. I swear by RIT dye. The colors are beautiful and the product is cheap. You can’t go wrong! I chose Teal for the tank and Petal Pink for the shorts. I find the liquid bottles of dye easier to use because you don’t have to worry about getting powder everywhere and if you don’t use it all you can save it for later! Just follow the directions on the bottle/ package for sink dying- prepare in a large punch bowl or plastic bin.

Rit Dye

Step Three: Run your garment under water so that is damp and place your article of clothing on a hanger and hang above the bowl of dye. Hang the garment so only the very bottom of the piece is actually submerged in the dye (use your own judgment here- if you want the dye to be very strong half way up the garment then place half of it in the bowl- but the dye will creep up and go higher than what is submerged).

Dye Process

Step Four: Wait a while. No seriously, it takes a bit. RIT dye will set in 30-60 minutes but what we’re aiming for is the garment absorbing as much of the dye as possible so that the color creeps up the shirt/shorts/whatever. So don’t touch it or stir it-  just let it do its thing. I left mine sitting throughout Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 and that did the trick!

Step Five: Take the garment out of the dye and rinse in the sink until the water runs clear- make sure not to get any dye on the top part of the garment.

Step Six: Wash garments separately WITH a little bit of detergent. Dry however the garment requires and….

Ombre Shirt

Ombre Short

WALA! Awesome ombre clothes- perfect for spring and summer! Now you can turn it around and ombre the top in another color or add embellishments- the skies the limit.

By: Erin Fox

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