It’s been awhile since I did a good sewing upcycle project and this one was worth the wait!

Sofiona Designs just released Spillgate - a flowy summer dress/top/swim cover with tiered options and a tie back. I was browsing around my fabric trying to decide what to use, but ended up grabbing a white cotton sheet that I had just picked up at a yard sale for 50 cents. It is a really soft fabric- I am thinking flannel or at least something brushed- and I thought it would be perfect for an ombré dye!

I sewed up the midi option dress with one tier then asked me niece what colors she wanted. She liked all of the colors but pink and coral won out in the end. I dyed the entire dress in a petal pink Rit dye bath (perhaps a bit too concentrated because I just dumped it in the water) then I dipped the lower 1/3 of the dress into a coral Rit dye bath. I kept the ties loosely knotted to keep them from falling into the coral. To remove any extra dye I rinsed everything with the garden hose and then ran it through a high heat cycle in the dryer to set the colors.

Helpful tip: It is important to remember that for fabric the colors do lighten as it dries, so don’t be afraid to go a little darker initially! That was definitely a lesson that I learned from the last time I did an ombré dye on these skirts.

My niece really loves her new dress and my daughter wants one too. Now she just has to choose either fabric or dye colors!

Pattern:
Spillgate Top & Dress

You may also like...