Wednesday 31 July 2013

A SHADE OR TWO


 I got myself a white version of the cotton top that buttons in the back. (I will, when older, most likely turn into that person with just twenty pairs of that one good shirt in the closet... oh no who am I kidding of course I won't.) White is white and that's fine but I was in need of a top in a more natural, broken shade like creme or so.

And did you know there is an easy way to darken a piece of clothing without having to color it with chemicals?

You do it with plain old coffee! An eco-friendly solution.
Strong, black tea works as well. 

Coffe or tea "dye" is good for giving a darker shade to pale and nude colored cotton (or other natural un-treated fibre that wil take on color well) clothing but you can of course do this with any color to give it a slightly darker and less vibrant hue. Or, if you have a white piece of clothing that doesn't look so fresh anymore due to miscoloring from deodorant or make up for example.

For the most even result you should rinse your cloth well first, although it will of course take on more color if put in the liquid dry. Let it soak for at least 30min or as long as you like. You can add a spoon of vinegar to the end before rinsing. I gave this top two rounds as the first one gave a too mild result - better that way.

 The main reason for dying the top was to wear it with my jungle skirt, which does not want to be paired well with most other items in my wardrobe.

And it turned out well, almost the same shade of pale!

(The top was originally from Seppälä and the rest is vintage.)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Turned out great! It looks as if it was a dress, actually.

Thursday said...

Looks great! I use tea to dye things quite often, as I don't like white. You never know quite how it will turn out, so it's not for things that you will be too precious about if the effect is a bit different to what you expected.

Anushka said...

Love this! Tea dyeing is great although it fades quite easily

Karin said...

Åh vilket fint resultat! Jag färgar också med te och kaffe lite då och då och varje gång slår det mig hur roligt det är. Jättefin kjol också!

Miss Psycho Cat said...

I didn't know about this, thanks for sharing, it looks great :D

Reena said...

Nice post..lively kurtis for women !!

Nisha said...

Great collection at your fashion boutique !!