To (un)Dye For

One day, I was mulling over why I had bought and kept a blouse and pant that I hardly ever wore.  It seemed wasteful to just throw them in the donation bin.  I must have loved the linen fabric (blouse) and Tencel (pant).  The color was yukky!  So, I decided to remove the color and change these garments into something I would hopefully like and wear this summer.

Rit Dye has a product called Color Remover.  This and plain old liquid bleach have become my go-to's to re-purpose clothing.  I wish I had a photo of the "before" colors, so will attempt to duplicate with a swatch:

This is the ugly manila color I started with...which has become my new white summer pant. 

Another linen blouse I wonder why I bought is a dark charcoal blue/grey.  Wore it once and it hung in the back of my closet, in the dark, unseen for a year.  (even this photo makes it look nicer than it was)

Dragged it out this summer intending to wear but it's such a dreary color I left in with the "donation" stuff.

The mottainai syndrome (waste not, want not) hit me and I flashed on Rit Color Remover and this is the result.  Yes, it took a while and several bleachings to remove most of the color down to a very light pink (?).  Then dumped it into a pot of Golden Yellow, let it soak all day, and here is the sunny yellow result! 

Perfect for summer!  Also, cut the sleeve and collar edges off to create a frayed, raw edge look.  I think it goes well with the rumpled linen.