Lately tie dye has been a big trend. At first I wasn’t really been into it- I didn’t need tie dye sweats. Then I thought- maybe if I dyed something that I’d want to wear in rainbow, then I could get onboard with this trend! To I went out and bought a dress and had the best time making it over! Here is my take on this trend- a rainbow tie dye dress!
how to make a tie dye rainbow dress
Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:
If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. I’d be over the moon happy if you subscribed to my YouTube channel! Videos are actually released on YouTube first (usually the night before they’re published on the blog). Thank you!
SUPPLIES
step 1- select the right dress
First of all, when you are selecting items to dye, they need to be no more than 40% synthetic fibers like polyester. Polyester will NOT hold dye, so you want to look for a cotton or silk or linen dress for this project. The dress I found is 55% cotton and 45% rayon. Rayon is made from wood pulp so it takes dye well.
For the napkins, I used 100% cotton napkins I had on hand. We’ve used these for years so they’re pretty dingy. Fresh white napkins would give for a much better result.
Choosing the right item to dye is probably the most important step!
step 2- prep the fabric
Next prep the fabric. If you haven’t already, wash the clothes to remove any chemicals that might be on them.
For the look I want, having the dye bleed is ideal. To facilitate that, I got the fabric wet before dying.
Then I twisted the napkins in one bundle and the dress in a second. I bound them with rubber bands. I tried to place the rubber bands at equal distances. I used 4 rubber bands to mark where I want the dye to go- each section will get a different color of dye. Note, I wish I had done two bundles of napkins since having 4 together was too much and 2 didn’t get much dye.
step 3- prep the dye 
And now it’s time to prep the dye! To do this, mix 3/4 cup hot water to 1 Tbsp of dye into a squeeze bottle. Mix well.
Note, I didn’t end up liking the apple green. When I tried to apply it, nothing happened to the fabric. So I did the obvious thing and mixed the lemon yellow with the teal.
Above you can see where I applied the lemon yellow. But I also tried to dye the fabric with the apple green. Nothing happened. It was a waste of $4.50. So don’t buy that color. Or use way more dye.
step 4- dye
It’s finally time to dye the fabric! To prep the workspace, I put plastic over my table. Since it’s wood, I didn’t want to ruin it with dye. Then I covered that in an old towel. For dying over, I used two cookie sheets with baking racks inside them. This helps it so the dye doesn’t puddle on the fabric.
Apply the dye liberally to the fabric. Make sure to wear gloves as you use the dye so your hands aren’t a scary mess. Make sure to rotate and flip the fabric as you go so you get all the sides.
Then I removed the rubber bands. At this point, I saw some white spots I missed on the dress. So I used more dye on those items.
Let the dye sit for 30 minutes so it has time to set. Another thing I did to get the dye to set was I poured hot water over the fabric. Lastly, I put the fabric in the washing machine with the towel I dyed on top of. The towel picks up any excess dye.
Note, if, after you wash your dress, you think the color is too vibrant, you can soak it in Oxyclean and it should remove some of the dye.
after

Eep!! Here’s the finished dress- straight out of the dryer! I love, love how it came out! You can tell that the eyelets didn’t take the color and I kind of love that detail. I also really like how the color blend together.
One interesting thing is that the card pink and the lighter pink totally blended and you can’t tell a difference. If I was to do this again, I wouldn’t use the fuchsia and mix petal pink and yellow to make a coral color.
The napkins turned out a little more tie dye looking. If they weren’t so dingy, they’d look even better. I think the tie dye look is cute though! Now I want to tie dye all the things! Shoes, a matching shirt for Don. Sign me up!
Anyway, there you have it! How to make a rainbow tie dye dress! I wore mine around all last night and it’s such a comfy dress! Plus it has pockets. I think the colors are really cute with how they turned out. I’m a fan and super relieved this project turned out.
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You’re adorable! Love this project, even though it wasn’t perfect. This is why you’re so loved. Don’t ever change.
Thank you so much Britt🙈💕
You are so cute! Love the dress 👏🏻
Thank you Norma! 💖
Dear Ashley 🙂 oh so precious & adorable! You light up the world & are as darling as the colorful dress! What delightful happy pictures & the dress is so you 🙂 & love it with the jean jacket 🙂 It came out great!! Now you need a precious picture of you wearing the dress on your adorable rainbow stairs! 🙂 So joyful 🙂 With love from all of us 🙂
Thanks for your sweet comment, Pam! Have a good weekend 😘🌈
Oh, this is so cute!! I’m featuring it tomorrow at the TFt link party. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
I appreciate that, thanks so much Pam!