Embellishing With Dyed Buttons and Lace

 

Why not turn a boring old jersey T into an elegant, embellished statement?  It's easy to jazz up a simple top by just adding some matching dyed fabric flowers and buttons.

 

 

I started with a Tshirt that had a cute shape but was getting a little dreary from overuse. Using scraps of jersey fabric and some recycled nylon lace, I whipped up sweet accent flowers and leaves. To top it all off, I dyed some buttons for extra texture. Lovely, right?

Oh, and if you're so very clever, you'll recognize this top as the one I was wearing in my recent dyed button video. Well, it is and here's the whole how-to, in case you want to make one.

 

1) Cover your work surface with plastic and grab some rubber gloves to get started.

 

 

To dye the buttons:

 

2) Shake, measure and mix 1 tsp of Rit Scarlet dye with 1 cup of very hot 140˚ water. Make a second dye bath with Rit Wine dye using the same measurements. If your tap water's not hot enough, just heat some in the microwave or tea kettle. Immerse some random buttons in each dye bath until the desired color is achieved. All buttons seem to take the dye differently, some very subtle and some quite vibrant.

Just have fun experimenting!

 

Remove from dye bath and rinse in cool water until the water runs clear. Wash with a bit of soap and water, then wipe dry.

 

 

To make the flowers:

 

3) Since this top was very long, I cut a 2" strip off the bottom hem of the shirt and made some simple, twisted fabric flowers. I kinda liked the monochrome effect, so I didn't dye these flowers. They're super easy to make using this great video tutorial from Erin Basset. She explains the technique so well.

 

4) For a more accented color, I dyed a pair of old white nylon, lace tights. I cut them in half across the knees so I could do two shades of color. OK, on to the dyeing...

 

5) Shake, measure and mix 2Tbsp of Rit Scarlet dye with 1 quart of very hot 140˚ water. Immerse one half of the nylon lace tights in the dye bath for a few minutes until you like the color.  Remove from dye bath and set aside in clean plastic container.

Add 1Tbsp of Rit Wine dye to the dye bath. It's good to reheat the dye solution in the microwave to make sure it's hot and then immerse the second half of the lace tights to create the second color variation. When you like the color, rinse all the lace in cool water until the water runs clear. Wash in warm water with mild detergent, rinse and hang dry.



6)The finished hem of the tights has a nice scallop'd edge and makes great flowers. With a 1" wide strip of this lace fabric, sew a long running stitch across the the unfinished edge. Pull the thread to gather the fabric and it'll curl to create the flower. Simply, stitch through the bottom a few times to secure the flower and knot the thread. 

 

 

For the leaves:

 

7) Cut open a section of the dyed legs of the tights. Iron the lace onto a piece of fusible interfacing, stretching the lace fabric a bit as you go. Once it's fused onto the interfacing, you can create most any shape cutouts. I just scissor'd myself a few freehand leaf shapes.

 

 

8) Once you have all your embellishment pieces set up, lay out a nice design on the T-shirt. The flowers/buttons can be sewn in place or glued with fabric glue. So simple and trendy.  It's almost like shopping at Anthropologie, except cheaper!

OK, you know I can't resist shamelessly plugging the video again. So here it is...