KeziahRose: D I Y Dip-Dye Ombre Shorts

To make some extra money throughout university I customise old denim jeans to make shorts, so am always looking for new ideas on how to re-work them. Although dip-dyed clothing has been around for a while now I thought it was time I jumped on the band waggon. So here are some shorts I recently made, with the instructions on how I dyed them:

You will need:

Shorts, dye (preferably hand dye, although I used machine dye - just make sure you stick to the quantities in the instructions), 500g salt/dye salt, a spoon to mix, pegs, rubber gloves, a bowl and a hanger. Make sure you are also working on a surface that you won't mind getting dye on.

1.)

Add the amount of warm water that your dye recommends into your bowl, and stir in the salt. Completely soak your shorts - this will help the dye to transfer gradually.

2.)

Mix in your dye thoroughly, then put on your gloves and dip your shorts into the dye as high up as you want the ombre to start. I chose just below the pockets.

3.)

Then take the shorts out until just the bottom inch remains in the dye; the colour should transfer up the shorts gradually. I used pegs to clip the shorts to the bowl so that they wouldn't fall in.

4.)

Leave the shorts in the dye for as long as the packet recommends and then hang them to dry - again making sure that then are above a surface that you don't mind getting dye on. I also placed the bowl under the shorts to catch the main drips.

5.)

Leave your shorts until they are bone dry - I left them overnight. As you can see the ombre isn't in a straight line. This is because I had to bend the shorts into the bowl, so some areas took more dye than others. For future reference I will definitely use a bigger bowl. Also, where I used machine dye the lack of agitation in this hand dying process means that the colour didn't mix completely - hence the red line between the two areas of dye.