After oohing and aahing over all sorts of clever DIY dresses, we had to come up with a hack of our own. Inspired by a combination of color blocking and ombre, we turned a basic white dress into a fresh summer frock, perfect for frolicking, impromptu dance-partying, and the like.
Tools:
– foam brushes
– painter’s tape
– latex gloves
– bin or bucket for dye
– drop cloth
– cardboard
We hit up H&M and found this sweet lace-topped sundress for just $25.
For dye, we went with traditional Rit fabric dye in teal, blue, and purple. You always want to protect whatever surface you’re working on with a plastic drop cloth.
Lay your dress out on a drop cloth and insert a piece of cardboard into the dress. This will ensure that your dye doesn’t bleed through to the back – though you’ll be dyeing the back as well.
Start at the waist seam and paint up with you foam brush. You can dilute as you see fit – we used 1 part dye to 2 parts water. Continue upward with the blue.
Be sure to paint around the edge so you know where to continue your color lines when you turn the dress over.
Last we’ll add the green! Paint all the way up the straps. Now flip it over and repeat!
This is how the top half should look.
You’ll inevitably have some of the dye bleed onto the bottom part of the dress, so it’s time to add a light green wash to the skirt portion of your piece.
Mix 1 part dye with 6 parts water and dunk the whole skirt part into the dye. Squeeze out excess dye.
Drop in the washer and dryer to seal the deal, and you’re done.
We love the gradient of color, and how the just the lace ended up being dyed.
It’s the perfect dress for summer. Doesn’t it just make you want to twirl? :)
How do you update old or plain frocks? Talk to us in the comments below.
