I found this absolutely fabulous Lou & Grey linen cropped blouse on Poshmark for $20.
I loved everything about it. The linen was lightweight, but not transparent. The boxy shape was cute with a high-waisted skirt. The rolled sleeves were super flattering. I even liked the faint pink background and the brown gingham pattern. Oh, and $20. LOVE IT.
I loved it so much, I kind of wanted it in another color.
So, I searched Poshmark some more and came up with more of the exact same top I owned, as well as one that had a hot pink gingham (no, thank you).
And then I had an idea. I hit ‘like’ on all the tops that were the same colorway I owned, and then waited until someone offered me one at $20 before scooping it up.
Then, when it arrived. I pulled out the Indigo dye (purchased off Amazon for $6.51).
To be honest, at first, I was thinking a darker green dye – like maybe a grey-moss. But with the background being light pink, color theory says that the green dye would have turned it mud brown. I picked Indigo, because if the pink hung around when I dyed it… it would go towards purple. Which is totally fine.
Here’s the shirt before I dyed it, along with another tank top I decided to throw in the dye.
I used hot water as it came out of my tap (about 120 degrees, not the 140 that is recommended) and dumped the entire bottle of dye in with a few gallons of water. Then, I added the two shirts and stirred constantly until I got bored.
Which was 10 minutes later. And not the 30 minutes they recommend. Oh well.
I left the linen top in the dye bath and pulled out the cotton tank top. It took me probably 5-10 minutes of rinsing it to get the water to run mostly clear. Then, I pulled out the linen top – so it probably was in the dye bath about 15-20 minutes.
I put my gloves on and I rinsed. And rinsed. And rinsed.
Finally, when the water ran mostly clear I gave them each one good squeeze. Here is the color when they are still dripping wet:
I threw them in the washing machine on a speed load with a couple random t-shirts and a hand towel. When the load was done, I put everything in the dryer for about 20 minutes.
Here’s the tank top. Kind of a bummer. I was hoping you’d still see a little of the tie-dye design, but meh.
It’s fine. I wear it around the house when I’m lazy and I didn’t love the color combo it had previously (I also thrifted it for a couple bucks a while ago, so no big deal).
I AM super happy with the linen top though!
It turned out so great! The gingham is still fully visible and reads like a darker brown with the indigo. And this gives me another option to the top that I like so much too.
Here they are next to each other as a little before/after… but I own them both.
As a little reminder, if you have items you love in your closet that need a little color refresh, Rit Dye is pretty much as easy as can be to use. I didn’t bother with the adding salt, or adding dish soap, or vinegar, or boiling my water. I just threw some dye in some water. A monkey can do it. Actually, a monkey would have probably been more patient than I was and left it in the dye stirring for 30 minutes. So, there’s that.
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