Garment dyeing - Lesson 1...

Always use pure cotton thread when you're making a cotton garment that is to be dyed.  This will ensure that the dye takes evenly thoughout the garment.

Lesson 2 - Double-check that the bobbin you wound with cotton thread is indeed the one that you put in the machine....

...because polyester thread will only have to be unpicked and re-sewn with colour-matched thread (likely to mis-match as the garment fades!!).

This the Funked Out Peasant Blouse pattern I won in Little Munchkins' giveaway a while ago.  I tried it in a white-based printed cotton lawn from IKEA - keeping costs down if it all went horribly wrong.  White is not my colour so it was doomed to the dye-bath from the start.

The result...

I chose the cap sleeve version and skipped the hip band (a bad look for those of us lacking leg length).  I used an invisible zip in the side (instead of the dress zip that was recommended).


In the end, it's not too bad, although not the most flattering of shapes for we short-waisted/short-legged/short-everythinged gals.  It'll look better with slim black pants underneath to create a bit more body-reference in the silhouette.  Next time I'll add more flare at the hip to fix that bunching-up business at the waist, and try it in a more fluid fabric (fine viscose?... viscose jersey?).


Do you like how - instead of wasting time cleaning the studio when I could be sewing - I've just used a blurry Photoshop filter?  I'm desperately trying to work out a way that this trick can be applied to the real-life studio.