30+ Ways to Dye Fabric

 So what if you have fabric in your stash that you'll never sew because your tastes have changed?  One genius answer is to change the fabric using DYEING.  Today we're sharing 30+ ways to dye fabric so that you'll actually want to use it again!  These dyeing fabric ideas are to DIE for!!!

And remember to link up anything you've sewn for kids using your fabric and notions stash for a change to win our HUGE giveaway!

Elizabeth used a whole variety of dying techniques for the To DYE For challenge.

Lakeisha dyed gauze and dip dyed jeans for the To DYE For challenge.

DIY with Manneken had her daughters paint the fabric, then she sewed them clothes for the To DYE For challenge.

Sew Country Chick created this purple dress from a white sheet for the White Sheet Challenge.

Elegance & Elephants dyed her white sheet this gorgeous wine color for the White Sheet Challenge.

A Girl and a Glue Gun created this fun play set from white sheets for the White Sheet Challenge.

This white sheet turned into a purrrrrfectly fun outfit thanks to Welcome to the Mouse House for the White Sheet Challenge!

Did you guess this beautiful dress was once a white sheet?  Lindsay worked magic on it for the White Sheet Challenge.

Delia Creates added texture as well as color to her makes for the White Sheet Challenge.

Instead of going darker, try lighter with this bleach dyeing tutorial!

How about an ombre dye like Baby Nest USA did on this apron for the Analogous Color Challenge?

It's Always Autumn used stencils and spray dyeing to make this gorgeous sweater for the Design Your Own Fabric challenge.

Petit a Petit & Family used dip dyeing and bleaching denim techniques to create this look for the Design Your Own Fabric challenge.

Here's some good information about tea dyeing and using other foods as dyes.

The Sewn Edge used several different colors of dyes to create the boiler-suit and quilted jacket for the Signature Style Challenge.

Here is a tutorial on how to dye lace!

Remember this dyed jumpsuit by Lily Shine Creates for the 80s Cartoons challenge?

Paisley Roots made cropped jacket and dyed it for the Refashion Challenge.

Sew Haute Blog ombre dyed this cute tee for the 2021 Pantone Party.

Ajaire dip dyed a sweatshirt and bubble tunic for the Crafting A Story Challenge.

A Little Gray used color remover on a BLUE sheet and then dyed it the soft pink she wanted for the Earth Day challenge!

Made by Toya used tea to overdye that cardigan to a more subtle color for the Kid Designed Momma Sewn Challenge.

iCandy ombre dyed this ruffled cardigan for the Back To School Challenge.

Sewing In No Man's Land hand dyed fabric and then created that lovely coat for her Season Finale Challenge.

No Big Dill ombre dyed those ruffles on this dress for her Season Finale Challenge.

Ajaire bleach dyed those pants to get them to the exact shade of red she was looking for during the Spring Break Challenge.

My Sparkly used dye to create this two toned ruffled underskirt for the Special Occasions Challenge.

Running With Scissors hand dyed those tights to just the right color for the Special Occasions Challenge.

Craftiness is Not Optional used tea bags to get that skirt to just the right mustard shade for the It's All In The Details Challenge.

Shwin & Shwin used pink and then blue dyes to dip dye those formerly white jeans for the It's All In The Details Challenge.

August Sewing dyed linen to get the shade she wanted for that bag during the 1+1=School Challenge.

My Sparkle dyed soft tissue weight linen to get the right color for the Outerwear Challenge.

Sew Like My Mom dyed lace to match the linen underneath for the Cos Play Challenge.

There you have it!  Over 30 different inspirations if you're looking to CHANGE your fabric using dyeing.  Which one are you going to try first?  (Use the graphic above to save these ideas on Pinterest.  Do you follow us there?)

Putting New Life into Old Onesies

Today I'm sharing a tutorial I posted a few months ago over at Simple Simon and Company.  It was during the time I was getting things ready for the arrival of baby Ruth.  I was feeling badly about the fact that Ruth would be wearing hand me down onesies that had already gone through two other children so I was looking for ways to spruce them up a bit.


Now Ruth is here and is big enough to wear all the onesies that I worked on and the beet dyed onesies are far and away my favorite.  I love the color and the way they wash and because they've already been broken in they are super, super soft.   

So because Ruth is finally able to wear these and because I really do love them I'm sharing them again over here at Project Run and Play----the highly recommendable beet dyed onesies.
 
That's right. I said "beet dyed onesies".

Weird? Probably. But I didn't start coloring my baby's undershirts with food all at once. There was a method to my madness and it all started here when I made these:

Tea dyed onesies.

And I love them. And I started to think if I could dye them with tea maybe I could dye them with other staining foods....like beets. Which coincidentally are delicious to eat when chilled and pickled. And even better when mixed with spinach and peas and blue cheese and where was I? Oh yea...staining clothes.

So I tried the beets. I used the same steps as I did with the tea dying but used beet juice from canned beets instead. (You can find those steps and instructions here  )

The outcome looked like this:

I left one onesie in longer than the other and you can tell...I like the darker one better. It came out a nice, dusty, muted, rose color that I really like.

And then of course I added trims and lace and stuff.

I am happy with the results and I'll feel a lot better about putting my baby Ruth in these redone onesies than the dingy hand-me-downs they started out as.

PS---I'm planning a little experiment with some other foods as well...like tomatoes...I'm hoping for a nice orangy red. But we'll see. It may be a sad, soggy craft fail.

Note:  I tried the tomatoes---I could never get it to stain/dye evenly and couldn't get the color darker than like an orangy peach.  However, when I originally posted this I got some awesome suggestions about dying with other types of food and undoubtedly there will be more tutorials to come.