I have to be honest.
When we found out that we were having a girl, I was a bit stunned. Not that we weren’t excited, just surprised. I was totally prepared to have three energetic, boisterous little boys.
Boys is what we have and what we’re used to. I was making a skirt for the baby yesterday. When I showed my husband, a dumbfounded look settled over his face and he responded with, “Babies wear skirts? So I put that over the onsie?”
Me: “Uh…yeah. Girl babies wear skirts honey.”
Him: “Do they have to?”
It’s going to be fun getting used to having another female around here. 馃檪
We don’t know if we are going to have more children and if those children are going to be male, so I went through some of our boy baby clothes and white onsies and girl-i-fied them by dyeing them.
I have only dyed elastic once and it was gray so I don’t know if that really counts. Dying with darker colors is work! Truth be told. It’s not my favorite way to re-fashion either. But it was fun to learn and experiment with – once. 馃檪
I referenced this fabric dyeing tutorial from Dana.
For good measure I thought I would add my own two cents and tips…
1. I didn’t use the stove boiling dye method, but I added boiling water to one of my batches and it took the dye up instantly. It really made the process go MUCH faster. What took me 8 hours for one batch, took me only an hour with the partially boiled water dye bath.
That’s right…I didn’t even boil all the water in the batch. I just boiled about 1/3 of the water in the batch and used hot tap water for the rest. Then I mixed in the dye and salt until dissolved before adding the clothes.
2. Stir every 5-15 minutes if you can. I started out stirring every 30 minutes or so with my first batch {with no boiled water) and I got a few garments that dyed unevenly. I was able to salvage most of them with another dye bath but it was a pain to have to do that and a couple never recovered. Don’t get relaxed about it. Babysit that dye bath closely. If you boil the water first then you won’t have to babysit too long.
As you can see…this one turned out a bit tye- dyed. This isn’t even the worst one. I’m keeping it because it’s not too bad and I kind of like the lilac color it turned out.
3. Squeeze and rinse….repeat, repeat, repeat. These are baby clothes so I want them very washable. Sometimes baby stains need a bit of warm water to come out. I didn’t want these clothes bleeding over everything just because of that. So I rinsed (and rinsed and rinsed) until only trace amounts came off the clothes with hot water. I also washed everything in small loads in like colors with hot once and then cold the second time. Now I feel confident that if I wash it with like colors in warm every once in a while as needed, I won’t end up with a bunch of purple and pink tinged clothes.
4. If you use red at all, a little goes a looooooong way.
5. If you’re dyeing the fabric to cover up stains, it may not work. Even with dark dyes, some of the stained splotches just dyed darker than the rest. I would say 40% worked and 60% ended up in the trash. I should have taken pictures but I pitched them in the trash wet before I thought that far.
It doesn’t hurt to try though. You were going to toss that stained shirt anyway. Why not toss it in the dye bath first to see if you can’t salvage it?
And here are some before and afters:
Some turned out really fun.
This one was robin’s egg blue before. When it mixed with the violet for 8 hours it turned out this beautiful deep purple hue.
This one is my favorite…also blue to begin with.
Others came out kind of funky.
Like the striped sleeper on the right. I’m still on the fence about whether I want to keep it or not…probably not.
But the one of the left used to be light blue and now it’s a pretty Coral color. It also had a stain that dyed out. Win!
I used only RIT dye and these are the colors I used:
Violet (liquid). I pretty much put the whole bottle into 2 batches.
Scarlett (liquid) and Tangerine (powder) with a little Gray powder – to get the coral color.
You can access RIT’s color formula guide here to get ideas as well.
I wanted to keep it simple and not buy a too many different colors so I didn’t use it as much.
I’m getting used to the pinks and purples. It’s taking some time but this project helped a lot. 馃檪
My third was a girl. We didn’t find out what she was until the day she was born, and fulling expecting another boy, I was utterly shocked when the midwife turned her over. It took my husband a month to stop saying he/him/his. And the other surprising thing I found is how utterly different it FEELS to be a parent of a girl. Enjoy!
This is such a fabulous idea! You just saved a ton of money for many young mothers!
Love it! We have 3 girls.
I still have to redress our girls (3 and 1) after my husband tries to. It’s really adorable watching him try to put our little ones in anything girly. “Now, which way are these supposed to go? Oh, why does she even need to wear them anyway? Can’t we just put some pants on her?”
I love this idea, and I really enjoy your blog.
oh I was laughing so hard when your husband asked about babies wearing skirts! 馃檪 I love the colors you used, although my projects will be blues and reds for now. Thanks for the tips, I am probably going to be dying a bit here before April.
Beautiful colors! I don’t really like the whole dye process either but I love the outcome and the colorful dye baths. Baby clothes should be made in those vibrant colors. Just lovely. And they will even be more beautiful when a sweet babe fills them. 馃檪
They turned darling! I have a son and then a daughter and I did the same thing. Much easier going from a boy to a girl when updating clothes.
oh hahaha, your hubby’s confusion over the skirt just kills me. With number 3 I keep wondering if we’ll have a boy this round, and my hubby is terrified of the thought since he is so used to his girls! lol. I agree with the first poster, obviously not from firsthand experience but from talking to my friends it definitely feels different parenting a girl. One of my friends suggested that, especially for dad, there are less expectations and more protectiveness. One of my close friends had two boys and then a girl and seeing her hubby with their girl is just so neat! Makes me giggle… it’s his third baby but he’s just so excited about everything she does, as if it’s his first all over. Daddy’s girl! lol
I would have never thought to dye the boys’ clothes – SO smart! They turned out gorgeous; great job 馃檪
We lucked out and received lots of yellows and greens for the girls when they were tiny, so the pending little man won’t be stuck in pinks. Plus most of the outfits I loved were the green one’s anyway so those got saved while the others were donated.
I have had quite a time adjusting to the idea that a little dude is going to be popping out in 8 weeks. I have girls, it’s what I do.
You have a wonderful blog and congratulations on the baby girl! I am very new to this but please check out my blog and offer any advice you may have as an experienced blogger.
such a good idea. we have 3 girls and are having a boy. wonder if the pink would turn the blue purple. i have used rite dye a couple times and just put the stuff in hot tap water. as hot as it goes. then rinse a lot. wash once and they are good. and the dye takes in less than an hour for super dark. never heard of it taking 8!
This is what I am hoping I get to do! However, we don’t find out the sex, so I have another 6 months before I can dye anything. Having pink around would be such a change of pace!
I think they all look great! Love all the “different” pinks and purples because they aren’t the colors that every other little girl will be in. 馃檪 That is definitely the very best!
They look fantastic! Very unique. I love the colors. Your husband’s comment cracks me up. Have you tipped him off to headbands and bows yet? That’ll really knock him off his wagon! HA HA HA HA
I actually had a panic attack the morning or our ultrasound with #3, afraid it would be a girl. I just couldn’t picture myself as a mom of a girl. But with #4, it’s all I could think of and I wanted one so much. I guess I was ready? Or at least ready to learn. My poor girl. Love the colors of the last onsies especially. As for dye, my favorite brand is Dylon. RIT always fades for me when I wash it. But Dylon stays more true longer.
great way to reuse!!! 3-4 colors, what is that $12 maybe?! awesome!! and i like the striped pj’s, they are cute!!
What cute, fun colors! I love how out of his element your husband is with these skirt-wearing baby girls 馃檪 I remember trying dying a few onesies a while back when Lucas was a little baby- I came up with some cool deep blues, but mine ended up fading a lot in the wash- to the point that I had to wash those onesies separate from anything else. If I dare try again (I admit I also felt like it was quite the process) I’ll have to try rinsing them more with hot water.
ps- I love the coral colors you came up with!
Funny, I love the striped one on the right. Maybe it’s just the pictures, but I think it looks so cute.
I love all your baby posts! I'm having so much fun reading them this morning while I nurse my baby. This is a great one b/c I hate how it's so hard to find solid colored onesies.
I can't wait to do this with some of my boy clothes. I'm 20 weeks pregnant with my third & just found out I'm having a girl. Like you, I was a bit surprised, I was totally thinking I was going to have 3 boys! 馃檪