To Dye For

Taking Your Old Clothes From Rags to Riches

Dating back to the Dye-nasty

Did you know, tie dye has been around for longer than 1000 years!? The first documented evidence of tie dye comes from China and Japan during the ruling of the T’ang Dynasty. They used natural products to produce said dyes such as berries and herbs. However, in America, tie dye didn’t come to be until the 1920’s and it was popularized during the hippie era – otherwise known as the 1960’s-70’s. Especially now, with styles inspired by the 70’s and 90’s being very popular, tie dye is definitely on trend and a great way to change up the pieces you may have grown bored of in your wardrobe.

D-I-dYe

Since we are all living in quaran-times it is difficult – or unsafe – for us to go out and buy dye for our projects. You may be surprised at the amount of dyes you can make using boiled water and household products. For the colour orange you can use produce waste such as carrot peels and onion skins to create this colour. You can use your tea, coffee or stems of dandelions to create a nice brown colour. To create shades of pink you can use items in your home such as cherries or rose petals. Using blueberries, purple grapes, or red cabbage you can create vibrant purple tones. When you want to make green shades you can use spinach, leaves or grass. Creating yellow can be achieved with a number of items such as sunflower petals, dandelion flowers, paprika or turmeric.

Crafting a better future

It is known that the clothing production industry, unfortunately, has a negative impact on the environment. Since the beginning of Covid-19, and the lockdown protocols, places like flea markets or thrift/discount stores have been closed to the public. This makes it difficult to purchase new items for the environmentally conscious shopper not trying to make their eco footprint any larger. But what if that new piece of clothing you’ve been craving has been in your closet all along and can be created in the comforts of your own home? Tie dying is a great option for anyone looking to stay environmentally friendly with their clothing. Not only are you repurposing old clothes that may have been serving no use to you, but you are also keeping your options fresh and staying on trend.

Colour me stylish

When you are tie dying your clothes you want to be using the hottest colours of the season. For spring/summer 2021 there is a very playful colour story that will look great with your tie dye designs. Warm, golden shades of orange and rusty shades of brown will be very popular. Also shades of a pastel sky and nautical or royal blue will be on trend. In regards to pink both shades of coral and raspberry tones will be ones to watch and for purple gemstone shades will be all the craze. Also shades of green varying from minty to pastel will be all the rage. In the fall/winter season of 2020-2021 earth tones were all the rage and we will see their presence into summer. Creamy beiges, sandy browns, cool greys and washed out black shades will be a visible part of the fashion this summer.