overdyeing fabric swatches

How to rescue boring projects by overdyeing fabric

Have you ever tried overdyeing fabric?

We’ve all made things that are kind of a snore. Maybe that dress is “serviceable” but it’s also not something you’re super excited to wear.

Do you know what can fix that? Overdye.

Unless your fabric is very dark to begin with, you can always add dye to it to shift the colors a little bit. And sometimes that little bit of added color can Fairy Godmother that boring project into something really special.

The overdyeing process is so easy you’ll want to go fishing in your closet for some good candidates. Here we’ll talk about how overdyeing fabric works, the special materials you need for it, and when it’s a good time to give it a try.

Pinterest image: "how to overdye fabric" with overdyeing fabric swatches

Supplies for overdyeing fabric

  • Old stock pot (set aside for dye, not food! Go thrifting or find a garage sale for this, it need not be fancy.)
  • Fabric or finished garment, prewashed
  • dye that works for the fiber content
  • Gloves
  • tongs
  • Plastic tablecloth to protect your work area
  • Plastic bucket
  • Courage!

What is overdyeing?

Overdyeing is simply the process of putting fabric that already is colored through the dye process.

You could ice dye, shibori dye, use natural dyes like tea or complicated dye projects like batik for overdyeing.

In the end what sets apart overdye is that your dye is not going on a blank canvas.

colored pencil swatch squares on construction papers

Think about if you use a colored pencil to shade on a piece of white paper vs. colored papers. The colored paper is akin to the overdyed fabric here. Whatever your base color, you can get completely different looks with the same color over the top.

When you plan to overdye fabric, you’ll always have to keep in mind what your base color is and then choose dye based on that.

overdye dress
DG Patterns Tessa dress in poly chenille knit

This original base baby pink that you can see peeking through is a good candidate for deeper corals, reds, or violet reds.

The best dye for overdyeing fabric

There are lots of good fabric dyes out there.

The best dye to use for overdyeing will depend on what kind of fabric you’re starting with. Some fabrics will literally laugh at dyes unless you’re using the right dye with the right additions to the dye pot which we’ll hit on later.

Here are my favorite dyes for various types of fabric:

Dye brandBest for:
Rit All-Purposenatural fibers: cotton, linen, rayon, ramie, wool & silk, even nylon
Rit DyeMoresynthetic fabrics. This dye is a miracle for polyesters! Rit recommends using this if the fiber content is more than 35% synthetic
Procion MXAwesome for ice dyeing. Has vivid colors that hold their brightness well. Best for cotton, linen, rayon, hemp, plant fibers

Should I overdye pieces, yardage, or finished projects?

You can overdye any amount of fabric. Dyeing finished projects might feel a little risky. The cool thing about dyeing finished projects is that you can put the dye exactly where you want it. It would be tough to get an ombre effect with yardage that came out even across legs of pants for instance.

ombre dyed corduroy pants

Dyeing yardage is always a safe bet. If there’s a place that didn’t turn out as well as the rest, you can easily cut around that spot.

You can even dye individual cut pieces from a garment. If you do this, be sure to treat the pieces gently so that you don’t accidentally fray the edges.

Can I overdye in the washing machine?

Yes, you can. A lot of people get intimidating by dyeing in general because they think it’s going to be a total mess.

At first glance, dyeing in the washing machine seems like the best of all possible worlds. It’s a set it and forget it process and you can dye bigger amounts of fabric.

That being said, you’ll have to use more dye to get deep colors when you dye in a machine. It’s also harder to control the exact color you’re getting. If dyes don’t dissolve well, you might be disappointed with uneven results.

This can work if you’re using only natural fabrics. Washing machines will never get hot enough water to dye synthetics.

I have a total bias here having dyed fabric every which way from buckets to sinks to the washing machine. A dye pot is going to give you the best results and give you the most options.

You can use it for cold water dyeing like ice dyeing, or to dye fabrics that need HOT HOT water like polyester.

To cut it short, find an old beat up pot as big as you can find that you are only going to use for dye and get on to overdyeing!

Overdyeing fabric

Make your dye bath

First add enough water for your fabric to float freely. I tend to use as little water as possible. A good starting point is to use a gallon of water. Rit recommends 3 gallons for every pound of fabric.

Add your water to the dye pot and start warming it up.

Natural fibers will dye in any temperature water, wool needs to be just warm, and polyester needs to be close to boiling.

Now, check to see if there’s anything you might need to add to the dye bath for a particular fabric to help the dye get it’s best color.

And don’t you know I’ve got a chart for this too:

Fabricwhat to add to the water (for 1 gallon of water)
cotton, rayon, linen, hemp1/4 cup salt, 1 tsp of dish soap
wool, silk or nylon1/4 cup vinegar, 1 tsp dish soap
synthetic fibersnothing, just the right dye!

Stir your additives around until dissolved, then add in the dye.

How much dye do I need to overdye?

How much dye depends on how deep a color you’re shooting for and how much fabric you’re using.

1 bottle of dye or 2 oz of powder dye will in general dye 2 pounds of dry fabric. Use less dye if you want a less saturated color. Dharma Trading has a cool dye calculator to help you figure out how much dye to use.

fully saturated coral washes out this print, with less dye, you get more of a watercolor look on the overdye

Now add your liquid dye straight into the water and stir. If you use powdered dye, dissolve it first in a cup of hot water. This will help you get a more even color.

How to test out color for overdyeing

Making swatches might be most important part any dye process.

The easiest way to dye a test swatch is to use a paper towel. Dip one end in an check the color.

Ah, but this is overdye! You’re not starting with white, so paper towels aren’t going to help.

overdyeing fabric swatches

If you have an extra piece of fabric for the fabric you’re overdyeing, cut a small swatch and use that to test out your color. If you don’t, use another piece of fabric or paper that’s as close as you can get.

Next partially dip the paper or fabric into your dye bath and pull it out. Give it a rinse in cold water and look at it in good light.

If you don’t like it, you can always add more dye to the bath to shift the color.

shifting the color slightly between the top swatch and bottom by adding a little brown to the dye bath

I tend to do test swatches in a little loaf pan. The loaf pan uses almost no water and the water in it comes to boiling almost immediately. With it I can quick test out a color and adjust it before I make a full dye bath.

Now to overdye that blah fabric

Once you’re happy with your color, it’s time to overdye your fabric for real.

Wet your fabric first for the most even results. You can experiment here though too. I actually like a little unevenness in my dye projects. It gives them character!

Check your water heat. If you’re using polyester, make sure that the dye is heated to boiling, then reduce it down to a simmer.

Now pop the fabric into the dye. Stir stir stir with your tongs. If you want to get a little creative, throw in some extra dye in random places. The dye will hit the fabric unexpectedly for a different sort of effect.

Peacock green and denim blue added while the swatch was in the bath for a deeper color

Keep stirring until you like the depth of the color. That can take any amount of time from 3 minutes to an hour. I don’t tend to leave my fabric in for very long because I like more subtle colors.

If you’re aiming for a deep rich color, stir frequently for 10 minutes, and leave the fabric in the dye for about an hour.

Rinsing and finishing up your overdye

When you’re happy with the final color, pull out the fabric carefully and place it in your plastic bucket. Transfer the bucket to a sink and rinse out the fabric in cool water.

When the water runs mostly clear, run the fabric through machine wash in cold water. Dry your fabric as you would normally.

Now you can enjoy your new freshly overdyed project!

overdyed dress

So those are the basics of overdyeing fabric. I hope that gives you some ideas on how you can transform some ugly duckling fabric into something that’s exciting.

Yield: Makes as much beautiful fabric as you'd like

How to overdye fabric and finally make that boring fabric sing!

overdyeing fabric swatches

Overdyeing fabric is one of the easiest ways to take a plain sewing project and switch it up or give new life to something blah in your closet. Learn which dyes to use and how to play with this technique.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Active Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $

Materials

  • old stock pot
  • fabrics or a garment you want to dye
  • dye (Rit Allpurpose, Procion MX for vivid colors, Rit DyeMore for synthetic fabrics
  • soda ash (only if using Procion dyes)
  • gloves
  • tongs
  • Courage!

Instructions

  1. First, when you overdye, you have to think backwards.  Since you're starting with fabric that's already colored, think what a layer of new color will add to it.  Think of it like a filter on top of what's already there.  What new color will make your fabric pop? Pick your color and now it's time to test.
  2. To make test swatches: mix up your dye color in a little water, heat it in a small container like a loaf pan (just for dye not food!) then:
  3. dip in your fabric
  4. see if you like the results
  5. I like to swatch on paper towels first to test the color of the dye
  6. Warm up water in an old stock pot (just for dye!)
  7. Add your chosen color
  8. Add in your fabric for overdyeing
  9. Stir with tongs
  10. Rinse the fabric until mostly clear in cold water
  11. Pop the fabric in the wash to finish

Notes

If you're using Procion MX dyes for overdyeing, check out How to Ice Dye Fabric for more information on using Soda Ash which is needed for these dyes to get the best results.

Recommended Products

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More DIY fabric dye projects to try:

12 thoughts on “How to rescue boring projects by overdyeing fabric”

    1. Hi Alethia,

      I’m really intrigued by this idea – I’m currently knitting a lace cotton top that I love but am a bit nervous that the color won’t be flattering on my skin tone. So I’m contemplating overdyeing if that is the case once done, but I’m scared the lacey cotton would grow a lot in the really hot water you’d need to dye it. Because if I was hand washing the garment, my care instructions would be cold water wash. Any thoughts? Thanks!

      1. Cotton will not grow in hot water, if anything it will shrink on the other side of the dye process a little bit. If you block the finished top, it should be fine. Once you go through the dye process, you can wash with cold water as you’d like. I would make a swatch with the yarn to test out colors. Swatches are the 100% sure way to test things out without having to worry.

  1. Elizabeth, you always have content that right on time and extremely informative! When I saw this article in my inbox, I couldn’t help but read it! Now that I’ve had one successful dye under my belt, I’m all for trying one of these again! Thanks for always being a great teacher!

  2. Thanks! Just needed a little reassurance to overdye some too-bright turquoise linen and picked up a few unexpected tips, which will help with some other projects that were on hold for need of elusive colored lace. The crate of old tablecloths and curtains just got a lot more useful now that I know there’s a non-commercial dye for that. Haven’t tried anything synthetic since my teens in the 80s, when my “orange” leotard came out so close to fleshtone I looked naked at practice. Yup. Lived that teenaged nightmare. 🙂 Never dyed anything again.

  3. Hi,

    I just discovered this post. I have an acrylic sweater that I would like to try to overdye. It’s a cream color with a mostly darker pattern with a few parts of the pattern that are lighter like tans and reds. I want to overdye it a light coral or pink, but I want it to be even throughout. I’m nervous to overdye it and it to become uneven or blotchy. How would I avoid that? It’s also a thicker knit acrylic, do you think that would work overdying?

    Thank you!

    1. With acrylic, you’ll have to use Rit DyeMore. I’ve never a problem with the color becoming blotchy with that formula. There will always be a little bit of unevenness, but that is part of the charm of hand dyed fibers. It will definitely work to overdye it. If you want a deeper color, you might need to use a whole bottle or more. The best way to check to see how you like it is to swatch on paper towels or in an inconspicuous place on your sweater. That’ll give you an idea of how the fabric will react to the dye. The cool thing about this particular dye is that I’ve never had to stir and stir for extended periods of time like you do with other dyes. The fabric takes up the color and if you want more, add more dye. Give it a cool rinse, then wash it in a gentle cycle and you’re good to go.

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