Does dyeing clothes really work- or look pants?!

[monkeypuzzeltree]

So have just been through all DDs baby clothes in prep for DS arriving in a few weeks. Have managed to salvage a lot of vests and some sleep suits but so many of them are white but covered in pink hearts or flowers.

I was thinking of dyeing some of them, would save buying a lot more! Some are passable but others just too girly! has anyone had any success at TGIF, any tips or am I just wasting my time and will end up with a lot of mess and sludgy coloured baby grows! Many thanks

this not TGIF whatever that is

I dyed DD's pink vests and babygrows purple and orange for DS (some of each, not both together!)

I was really pleased. The colours come out well. I did try red, but you need to dye only a few items at a time otherwise the dye is spread too thinly and it still looks pink. Sometimes stitching remains the old colour, but I always liked the effect.

ps I used Dylon Machine. It's effective, and doesn't leave colour in the machine if you follow the instructions.
I've also dyed white sheets and towels before, no sludgy colours :)

I've dyed loads of things and it's always worked well. As thell says, the stitching tends to stay the same colour, or a washed out version of the dye colour.

Reckon they'd need a few washes to get any residue out though... some of the trousers I'd dyed blue made my legs look very blue. You don't want a bright green baby

The hearts and flowers might still be visible after you have dyed the items though, it depends how strong a colour you are using to dye the garments, and also how strong the existing colour is. I second Dylon machine dyes, and if you weigh the amount of fabric you're dyeing, the colours should come out pretty accurate to what the box shows.

I have dyed lots of things - adult and baby clothes, towels, sheets - with Dylon Machine Dye over the years and have never been dissapointed. Recently revived some old greying white sleepsuits, v terry nappies, muslins, vests and T shirts. Did three different colours, with a few things of different sizes, so that she is not all purple for one size, then all green for the next size etc.... Bear in mind though, that patterns will still show through and stitching won't change colour. You can't dye over bleach either and stains will show through too. And normal colour mixing rules still count, so a red and white t shirt dyed blue becomes purple and blue stripes.

Given that machine dye costs around £5-6 a pack and you need to do three hot washes per pack, if it is just a few sleepsuits it might be just worth replacing them .

I have never hadva problem with dyed fabrics running afterwards.

I've done this too, it works really well.

Also, if you have, for example, a girly butterfly motif that still shows after dyeing, you can get iron on appliques and fabrics from ebay, which cover it up easily.