How to Custom Dye a Kaftan

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How to Custom Dye a Kaftan

An easy and relatively cheap and simple way to liven up your wardrobe.

Lini D

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Step 1 of 40

Just a note on fabric dying- natural "plant" materials (cotton, linen, viscose) give the brightest colour result; "animal" fibres (wool, silk) give a lighter hue.

Step 2 of 40

Note 2: acrylic, polyester, nylon, and specially finished fabrics (waterproofed, Teflon coated etc) will not take the dyes that I'm using for this guide.

Step 3 of 40

Two simple white cotton kaftans.

Step 4 of 40

Take off any beads, buttons, decorative bits and bobs before you start.

Step 5 of 40

Dylon dye and Dylon salt. You can use ordinary salt for this, but the salt packs were only 79p. Also, when I bought the dye, I didn't know how much salt I had!

Step 6 of 40

Please follow the instructions. Make sure you read them first! Keep the kids and pets away while you do it, nobody wants a neon orange toddler.

Step 7 of 40

See, just salt.

Step 8 of 40

Setacolor fabric paint. I'm planning to use this for embellishment, but I could yet change my mind!

Step 9 of 40

Buckets, measuring jug (glass is best if you're going to mix dye in it!), rubber gloves, stirring doohickey. Being a veggie household, we don't do much tenderising! Use a stick if you have one.

Step 10 of 40

First things first, give your kaftan a wash, especially if it's new. I use a rinse cycle at 30oC just to make sure there's no dirt, finishings etc clinging on.

Step 11 of 40

Ok, I'm going to show two different dye techniques, so feel free to ignore the one you don't want to use. They're very similar to a point.

Step 12 of 40

Damp kaftan, meet dye bucket.

Step 13 of 40

Make sure you pick off any threads, lint balls, rabbit fluff etc.

Step 14 of 40

Get everything ready and put your newspaper down!

Step 15 of 40

40oC- perfect for diluting dye.

Step 16 of 40

Carefully open the dye package. You do not want to breathe this crap in!

Step 17 of 40

Stir well!

Step 18 of 40

Add 250g salt. Salt helps to open the pores of the fabric and helps the dye take.

Step 19 of 40

Stir about, stir about, stir about...

Step 20 of 40

Ready!? No turning back now! Dump that kaftan in the dye bucket!

Step 21 of 40

Watch it sink below and the dye crawl up!

Step 22 of 40

Stir regularly for 15min, then leave that sucker alone for 45mins.

Step 23 of 40

You know the drill by now.

Step 24 of 40

Ooh pretty!

Step 25 of 40

Add salt.

Step 26 of 40

Dip the kaftan hem end first into the dye bath. Decide how far up you want the darkest patch to be and put it that far in. The dye will wick up the fabric.

Step 27 of 40

See?

Step 28 of 40

Put the sleeve hem ends in too.

Step 29 of 40

Leave it be! Go sit down, have a cup of tea, eat a cake. Come back in a bit.

Step 30 of 40

Tip the dye away safely. Dylon is apparently safe to dispose of in the sink/toilet. If you're using mordants or chemical/Procion dyes you'll have to take them to your recycling facility.

Step 31 of 40

Rinse the kaftan until the water runs clear. This still has some way to go.

Step 32 of 40

That's about it!

Step 33 of 40

Make sure, if you're doing a dip dye, that you rinse the heavily dyed portion first.

Step 34 of 40

Wash wash wash... Bad pic! Also, lots of bunny fluff! Just a normal rinse cycle to make sure everything is out.

Step 35 of 40

Purple!

Step 36 of 40

One final rinse in the washing machine...

Step 37 of 40

Tadah! Finished article. I believe that they're calling this kind of effect "ombré" now. I just call it dip dyed.

Step 38 of 40

The tie is a little microcosm of the dip dye.

Step 39 of 40

"New" kaftans!

Step 40 of 40

Any questions, just ask! Thank-you for reading! :3

You're Done

Check out other guides by this author!

Lini D

Essex, UK

Civil servant by day, crochetière by night. Animal rights obsessed veggie. Make-do-and-mend'er. Horse rider. Bunny mother.

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1 Kaftan

1 Dye

250 Grams Salt

6 Liters Warm water

500 Mililiters Water at 40oC

Fabric paint/sequins/embellishments

1 Bucket

1 Thermometer

1 Stirring stick

1 Measuring jug

2 Rubber gloves

Newspaper/dustsheet etc

Well, people have already asked if I'll be selling; it all depends on "real" life and my financial state in the coming months.

Lini D (author) 11 months ago

If you're going to buy them in bulk, why don't u just sell them to the rest of us?? just me t

Terri Dahlgren 11 months ago

(cont) more at once, possibly saving money too. When I find some leads, I'd be happy to share!

Lini D (author) 12 months ago

I'm in the UK, and at the moment, lots of shops and superstores are selling them in time for summer. I'm in the process of researching where I can get more at once, possibly in a bulk buy so I can dye

Lini D (author) 12 months ago