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Fabric Gradient Dye Tutorial
Published: 2011-05-05 23:09:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 97926; Favourites: 2887; Downloads: 808
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Description
At last, the long awaited Gradient Dyeing Tutorial! I'm sorry it took so long to make, but here you go!I've had a lot of practice with this method, and this is the formula that works best for me, so I hope it can help you dye your fabric with ease. Fabric dyeing is actually one of my favorite parts about costuming, so please don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any - I'll be glad to answer them!
Tutorial and all images therein are Copyright Fire Lily and FireLilyCosplay.com.
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Comments: 164
How would I create a gradient that flows into another color, instead of getting lighter? Like Twilight Princess Zelda.
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I personally would spray the dye with a spray bottle onto wet fabric and smooth out the in-between areas with a sponge.
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You are a genius. THANK YOU!
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For a cosplay I'm making I'll have to dye a whole kimono(the part the bottom is lighter and the whole kimono is darker). Do you know if I can bleach the bottom? Doing like you said in this tutorial, but with bleachthingie and not dye....
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Yes, it would be easiest to use RIT Color Remover to gently remove the color and essentially gradient the kimono. I would recommend 2 Color Remover packs in boiling water.
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Thank you. I will try. Maybe I won't find just RIT Color remover, But I'll find something else.
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Thank you SO much for this. You're amazing.
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This is exactly what i need. Have you any tips to do this skirt? [link]
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There are three layers, so just dye each layer separately. I would cut out each layer to shape first (minus any sewing or hemming) then dip dye each until you are satisfied with the gradients. Then hem and sew together.
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This is so neat o3o I've never seen a tutorial for this and have always wondered how it was done.
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge!
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perfect , gonna do this for my maeda keiji fundoshi
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Is it possible to gradient dye an already coloured fabric?
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Yes! I would recommend using a Color Remover first on the areas that you want to be dyed. Also remember that you cannot dye polyester effectively unless you are using iDye or another polyester-appropriate dye...stick to 100% natural cotton/linen/silk/etc.
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I must ask, the white, pink, and Salmon skirt, is it a Kaylee cosplay? (Firefly?)
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Yes! You can see the full shot here: [link]
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That is amazing! Great job!
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Quick question. I bought a teal/blue colored shirt for work. It's like a dressy t-shirt and the material is made or most cotton. Unfortunately I got some specks of bleach on it while cleaning. So I was thinking, since the shirt is so new, I should try to dye it. If I tried to dye it black using the RIT dye, would that work? Any tips? I would really appreciate it. btw, I don't think I can match the color it is now which is why I'm dying it black. Or would it be better to dye it a shade of blue since that is close to the color it is now?
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You can do either blue or black. Whichever you use, make sure to use 2 dye packets to ensure an even, dark color. Add a cup of salt to the dye bath (dissolved first in boiling water) to promote dye adherence to the fabric.
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This wonderful!! I have a question: when you dip the fabric, how slowly do you need to pull it out of the water to ensure a continuous gradient? In my head it makes sense to do it fairly slowly so the next inch of fabric down gets a slightly longer time in the dye to become darker. Does that make sense? XD Anyways beautiful pictures of the finished product, it makes me excited to try it!
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That makes sense and sounds about right, but you don't need to do it too slowly. Just a dip in, dip out method will work, too.
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oh my gosh the pattern of the flower skirt is so gorgeous
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it's commonly ref. to as Ombre 
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I even mention that in the tutorial - amazing!
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Haha that's really helpful! :'D Thanks for sharing!
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You are welcome
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Oh, finally got a Daily Deviation on this, eh? Great job!
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Uuuuh.this is wonderful, I'll totally try it out on a shirt or something and let my friends in fashion desing school wonder x)!
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WOW...you added a new page in my knowledge...thanks a lot...
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You're very welcome!
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Thanks. May come in handy some day.
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Hi, I wanted to ask how did u dye that yellow green skirt? And also if I wanted to do something like this [link] where u know it has this kinda spotty parts to it, how can I do that? Thanks 8)
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Sorry to barge in. But there's a method to dye that sort of pattern. It is mostly done for silk (scarfs and alike) with silk dye, but can be done on anything else, too.
You would need to heavily wrinkle the fabric before dyeing, even possibly wrap or tie it with a thread or rope (which adds additional light spots, so be careful). Then dip it into the dye.
If you dip a dry wrinkled fabric, it will come out even more uneven in color, but if you first soak it into hot water like FireLilyCosplay suggested in the tut, you will get more gradual, finer coloration, like on those photos. You might want to dye it bit by bit, so you would have more control over the fabric. And, you can always add an additional blotches or other kind of varieties by sponge or brush or similar. There's a fun and colorful technique including lava rocks (or something equally rough...for example, not sanded wooden boards) and very concentrated dye, where one dips the rocks into a dye and then press it into the fabric, so to get various patterns. There's also an way of staining the fabric with a raw potato.
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Thanks for the tip 8)
I tried the scrunching fabric technique and but I still haven't been able to figure out this 1 [link] quite yet.
Guess I needa practice more lol
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Wow, I'm pretty late with this, but still...ever tried the wax techniques? Roughly said, you cover the part of the fabric you want to stay clean with beeswax (you can make different patterns with it...), then dye the rest of the fabric into the color you want. Dry it, then add another pattern of wax if desired and dye the rest in another dye (the trick is to start with lightest color, of course). Anyway, you can do many coats, depending of number of colors you chose and how they mix together.
In the end you boil the fabric shortly, to remove the wax (of course, you would need the high temp. resistant dyes for this). It gives pretty interesting results and it is useful, especially if you're into cosplay, as your nick suggests
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No worries. I don't go on much. N yes I tried batik before but I don't have a steady hand for that type of thing xD Quite hard trying to do the designs without blotching it. And I don't cosplay actually haha xD But thanks anyways!
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The green/white pieces are separate pieces of fabric that I sewed onto the yellow skirt. The green spots are green fabric ironed onto the yellow fabric.
If you want it to be spotty, don't wet your fabric before dyeing. Keep your fabric dry and it'll bleed in odd patterns. Dip the fabric once for a light shade, then again for a darker shade and so on.
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Ohhh~ ok thanks! 8D I'll definitely try that.
Also for something like this [link] is it done the same way?
And if u don't want your gradient dye fabric to have such a solid line between each color and want it to blend better instead, do you go over that with a sponge or something?
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Hm, for that type of different colored gradient, I would paint the dye on using a paintbrush or foam brush or use a sponge. Keep a spray bottle of water on hand so when you move to the next color, you can spray the fabric to blend the colors well.
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Thank you so much for all your help! xD
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