Refashioning a Dip Dyed Dress

I found this great dress at the Salvation Army and it was only $3. It was also brand new, with the tags, which said it was a bridal dress. I’m not so sure any bride would wear it … as it was definitely see through as well. Almost looked like a nightgown actually. But with a few refashions, it will be a daytime dress!

I’ve wanted to try dip dyeing for a while now, so I went out and bought some wine-colored RIT dye. Here we are in the bath.

I sun dried the dress, and then ran it through a wash and a dry cycle. Alas, the white did not stay white as I hoped, but everything turned a kind of pink. Part of the reason for this was really the silk of the dress. Oh well.

Cut off the top of the slip.

It definitely needs a slip. So I bought one, at the Goodwill, for $1. I lined it up with the dress and made a mark.

I’d like some of that lace to show actually. So I made the slip longer than the dress.

Drew the line across to get an even edge.

And ironed it.

Even with the slip, it was still kind of see-through, so I added a third layer of some extra knit fabric I had lying around. What resulted was a very thick underskirt.

Cut a length of cord for the ruffles.

Fed it through the hem edge that was made at the top with a safety pin.

This was the tricky part of the remake. I had to make the cord and the skirt fit the inside of the dress and then pin it into place. It took some adjusting. Next time I’m going to figure out a better way to do this.

Baste stitch it into place.

I then machine stitched all the way around to give it extra strength.

And here is the result! I think it came out gorgeous despite the pink, and I love that the lace stands out a little more. I think the dip dye is subtle enough but still pretty good.