Up-cyle: Dyeing

Recently my boyfriend started wearing his nice t-shirts to work out, and they were getting super grubby. I was tempted to throw them away and buy new ones, but I'm trying not to add to the 10.5 Mil tons of clothing that is dumped into landfills each year. This is where my crafting nature came into play.

I asked if I could tie-dye his shirts with some other fabric I was prepping and I received a hard NO for a response. He has a very simple and elegant style, and was definitely not going to be into wearing a tie-dyed shirt. So naturally while he was away, I grabbed a shirt and stuck it in the dye bath. 

I used Rit-Dye Liquid, Navy Blue; I picked a color I knew he would like. I used about half a bottle and filled up my mop bucket about 1/3 of the way, and added 1/4 cup of salt to help the dye take. I also made sure the water was boiling hot as I started.
Pro Tip: Others have done the dye bath in a pot, keeping the water at a simmer. The hotter the water, the better the dye will take.  After about 30 min I took the shirt out, and hung it to dry outside. (I hang things outside so I don't get droplets of dye water on my beautiful floors. 

I finished by washing the shirt in a cold water cycle. In the end, I turned a very skeptical, unwilling boyfriend into a believer! He now has a new favorite shirt that gets worn all the time.  

Stay tuned to see what I make with the other fabrics sharing this dye-bath!