Unlike the New York Times, who doesn’t seem to understand what DIY actually is, Lucky Magazine gets it.  They really get it! I was simply floored by their feature on dyeing pieces in your wardrobe to give them new life, featured in their February 2011 issue.

Utilizing Rit Fabric Dye, Jacquard dye, and Tarrago leather dye, you too can make over a number of items in your closet and dye them to suit your needs.  (“The $2 Trick that Will Change Your Wardrobe!” reads the title.)

Though yes, dye is cheap, the prep and process time for dyeing something can be a few hours to a few days, so it’s not cheap time-investment-wise.  But as the article points out, you can achieve dramatic results if you put in the effort to dye something correctly and carefully.

However, most of the pieces in the article appear to be new, which is why the dyeing works so darn well…when you’re dealing with items that have wear, stains, detergents, or distressing on them, your results may be very different.  Dyeing something is never a guaranteed process…it’s fairly hit and miss (which is what many people love about it!).  Don’t start off with trying to dye your favorite dress in the whole wide world…start smaller, and don’t forget the steps necessary to prep the piece to take the dye.

Dyeing leather is absolutely fantastic and utterly addicting, though again, some leathers will or won’t react with the dye, depending on finishing, tanning method, wear, surface coats, etc.  Also: I couldn’t find the leather dye kit the magazine recommends buying from WardrobeSupplies.com – they only sell Tarrago-brand leather polish, which is not the same as dye.   I’d recommend Angelus-brand leather dye, as I’ve worked with that before and it is extremely high-quality.  If you’d prefer the Tarrago-brand, you can buy it here on a different site…or even buy the kit on Ebay.

They even put together a little video as a quick how-to for the dyeing process for cotton/silk/synthetic fabrics – where Fashion News Director Jen Ford dyes a Barbara Bui dress:

Their other video for how to dye leather isn’t up yet.

I’m so thrilled to see a mainstream mag really try to break the process of dyeing down and inspire people to try it out!

How about you guys?  Are you thinking of dyeing a couple pieces in your wardrobe to liven things up a little?

xoxox
Carly

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