DIY Dyed Jeans in Luscious Lavender

Everything getting bit too bold & bright for you?  Why not make your new “go-to” color Lavender! This soft, toned-down sister of purple conveys a more romantic, fanciful summer feeling. Start thinking of lavender as a neutral and all of a sudden you’ll discover that you can add just an accented bright color pop like Lime Green, Fuchsia, Sodalite Blue or Tangerine Tango for a truly hip, seasonal look.  Isn’t it time to add a new color to your fashion repertoire? 

Designer Rafael Cennamo, making his debut at New York Fashion Week, created a lovely sheer lilac ball gown that looks so pretty and oh, so feminine.  Equally stunning, James Coviello's Castaway Collection featured a lavender boho ruffled gown for the Spring 2012 season. How ever you wear it, this lovely shade of purple awesomeness is easy to incorporate in any wardrobe. 

And here's some of our fave pairings for Lavender from the ColoRit Color Formula Guide:

Pairings:

• # 579 Lime Green (Green 3 palette)
• #592 Sodalite Blue (Pantone Spring palette)
• #127 Beeswax ( Yellow 2 palette)
• Fuchsia (Cool Red palette)
• #98 Tangerine Tango (Orange palette)       

Wanna get in on the luscious Lavender action? It's easy using the Rit custom recipe #165 from the 2012 Spring Forcast palette.

Here’s the tutorial ...

SUPPLIES:

• Rit Liquid Dye:  Purple, Denim Blue
• White Jeans, 100% Cotton 
• 4-Cup Measuring Cup & Measuring Spoons
• Spoon for stirring dye
• 4-Gallon Container for Dyeing 
• Fabric Scrap for testing dye color
• Salt
• Dishwashing Liquid
• Rubber Gloves
• Paper Towels
• Plastic Table Cover

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Prewash jeans to remove any finishes that may interfere with dye absorption.

2.  How Much Dye to Use:  Weigh the dry jeans using a food scale.  These jeans weighed 16 ounces.  As a guideline, ½ cup (half bottle) of liquid dye will color up to 16 ounces of dry weight fabric.

Lavender is custom color #165 in the Rit Color Formula Guide, located on the Blue/Violet color palette.  This recipe will color 1 ounce of dry weight fabric.  Since the jeans weighed 16 ounces, I multiplied the amount of dye needed for 1 ounce of fabric by 16.  The new recipe is listed below.  If you are dyeing a larger item, you will need more dye and more water.

3.  Preparing Dyebath:  Wearing rubber gloves, shake dye bottles.  Then measure and mix the following and stir well.

Lavender #165 Recipe

• 2 teas. Purple
• 2 teas. Denim Blue
• 1 cup Salt
• 2 cups Hot Water

4.  Fill dishpan or bucket with 3 gallons very hot tap water (140° F).  Note:  If water is not hot enough, heat some water in a tea kettle or in the microwave. 

5.  Pour dye solution into hot water.  Add squirt of dishwashing liquid and stir well.  Test dye color to be sure you are satisfied.  Note:  If color is too light, add more dye.  If color is too dark, add more water.

6.  Wet jeans in warm water and squeeze out excess water.

7.  Immerse jeans in dye bath and stir continuously for 3 - 5 minutes or until desired color is achieved. Note:  This is less time than when dyeing other color jeans. The longer the jeans remain in the dye bath, the darker the color will be. (Color will appear lighter when dry.)  Stirring helps to ensure an even color.

8.  Remove jeans from dye bath and squeeze out excess dye.  Rinse in cold running water until water runs clear.  Then wash jeans in warm water with mild detergent, rinse, dry and iron.