A Little Dye Project

I bought some fabric dye the other day in order to fix a couple jackets I have that I don't wear.

This jacket I've had for a long time, I got it at Shopko originally (I miss Shopko), but white is just not a practical color with a toddler.

It also had a few stains on it (duh, it's white).



This jacket I got at the Goodwill awhile back, and really liked the fit, but never really wore it. I realized why the other day. Oatmeal khaki does not look good next to my face, it totally washes me out.

I picked up some Rit fabric dye in dark brown.

After following the directions, this is how they turned out.

The khaki jacket turned out great. This is the jacket I originally bought the fabric dye for, so I was glad it turned out well. It didn't really turn dark brown though, maybe I didn't leave it in the dye long enough. It turned out more of a mahogany color.

A view of the back. I love how the stitching turned out, making it sort of a contrasting look.

The originally white jacket didn't turn out as well. It was kind of an afterthought, I decided to throw it into the dye since I had some dye left over. I didn't completely wet it which might have been part of the problem.

There were a few weird colored spots on it, maybe the dye wasn't mixed well enough.

It also did not turn dark brown, which is weird since it should have been more brown than the other one since it was originally white and not khaki. But it turned out more of a dusty rose color. It's pretty, just not dark brown. Oh well.

Alterations on a Cardigan

I got this cardigan for free from a friend (thanks Marella!!). I loved the detailing on the sleeves, and the color, but hadn't worn it yet because it just didn't fit right.

Too baggy, not flattering.

See the beautiful sleeves?

I started by cutting off the ribbed material across the bottom.

Then I pinned down both sides and sewed about a half inch inside the previous stitches. Just enough to make it more fitted.

So for the hemming on the bottom... yeah that wasn't fun. I tried it first by just pinning and sewing, but that ended up making it all wonky (yes, wonky). A half hour later, after some quality time with my seam ripper, I tried something different.

I found some bias tape that was left over from a previous project. I tucked the now completely frayed edges (taking out stitches on knit is NOT FUN) into the tape, folded it up, then pinned it across the bottom.

I sewed twice around the hem, making sure to catch the knit inside the bias tape all the way around.

After the hassle of hemming, it turned out pretty good!! There were a couple spots around the edges that still looked a little weird, but now it is wearable, instead of something just hanging in my closet.



 I actually have two more cardigans to alter, hopefully I learned my lesson with this one and the next two will go quicker.