Picking Pinterest Apart: Tie-Dyeing Onesies

Back when I had time (for like one day) to Pinterest, I pinned a pin about using RIT dye to color onesies. [Side note: the blog where this project originated makes me want to puke/quit my job and just do-it-myself, all day every damn day.] It sounded like a fun and semi-easy, semi-cheap way to recycle some dingy onesies and add some new color to the babe's wardrobe...

Enter: Audrey's impending 1st birthday.
Enter: her school teachers wanting to throw a princess party.
Enter: me needing something bigger and badder than a princess party.
Enter: the most glorious thing I've done in the creative category in perhaps years...

And you have tie-dyed onesies for Audrey's Flower Power Groovy Girl-themed first birthday party. Sweet. Really. They were sweet. But before you get all excited and start pinning this post away on your Pinterest board titled "Sweet Stuff"... read me out. I'll pick myself apart so that you don't have to.

First and foremost. This was not cheap. I decided I could not in good conscience give old dingy onesies to all of Audrey's friends as party favors. I also looked at the kids in her class (3 boys and 5 girls, Audrey is the youngest and smallest) and decided that they wouldn't fit in her old onesies anyways. So, I bought several packs of new, short-sleeved onesies. I prefer Carter's onesies over all others. And they go for about $15 for a 4 pack. I probably spent a total of $50 or so on onesies. The good news? Audrey now has a weeks' worth of tie-dyed onesies.

I also spent $12 on RIT dye but quickly learned that it is not ideal for tie-dying, so spent another $30 on Tulip kits from Wal-Mart. Do yourself a favor, start with the Tulip kits. The squirt bottles make getting a cool pattern MUCH easier and the die sets better for some reason. One kit of 3 bottles would probably cover about 10 very saturated onesies.

Second. This was not quick or easy. I had to do two batches because the RIT batch didn't turn out as vibrant as I wanted. I spent at least an hour rinsing dye from the second batch and another two hours stressing over whether the dyed onesies were going to ruin my washing machine (they didn't). And, don't even talk to me about the set-up-clean-up stress. I did just about everything in the basement to avoid any mishaps on surfaces of my house that I actually care about and did at least 40 trips up and down the stairs with all the supplies.

But. Third. It was fun. And the finished product was pretty cute.

Here are some photos. And a few pointers.

Conduct project in a place that you don't care about. You will drip.



Wear gloves. That suff stains skin big time.



Wrap the dyed onesies in saran wrap. Leave them for much, much longer than the RIT or Tulip instructions tell you to and don't let them dry out.

Viola! I said, out loud, to myself "SWEET!" when I saw this one come out. Unfortunately, this was phase 1 with the RIT and it didn't last through the wash.

Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. Rinse really well. I used warm water and it worked just fine. I later cleaned the sink with a rough sponge and it is as clean as ever now. The shirts on the right are spiral and the ones on the left, bulls-eye.

I did several types of patterns, but prefer the spiral. To prep the onesie, just lay it out flat, pinch a piece from the center and twist until you have a little biscuit. Use three rubberbands to divide it into sixths. Alternate which section you apply dye to. I learned this from Tulip.

This is my favorite. The Tulip kit comes with three colors in each. I like the two-colored shirts the best though.

Here's the set! I also re-dyed some of the RIT ones with Tulip dye. Some of them came out pretty well, but I don't have any pictures.

Then I put them in plastic party bags, wrote washing instructions on little tags, and delivered them to the kids' mailboxes at school! Big hit!

And Audrey was the grooviest 1 year old you've ever seen.

Now, pin-away, if you must :)

Kate