DIY Ombre Dip Dye Sweatshirt

Make Your Own Ombre Style Shirt

This off the shoulder sweatshirt is great for throwing over workout clothes when you're done at the gym.

The Ombre look is so popular now and is really easy to achieve. For this project, all you need is some dye(I used Rit) and a cotton or poly-cotton blend shirt.

I'm big into saving money and re-purposing when I can, so I looked in the thrift stores first for a sweatshirt. No luck there so I got this grey 50/50 poly-cotton blend sweatshirt on clearance at Walmart.

To start, I washed the shirt and left damp.

1. I used my stainless steel sink for the dye, but you may want to use a large container on a protected surface. Follow instructions to dissolve dye. I filled sink a few inches, added salt and about 2/3 of the dye powder.
2. Hold the shirt at the top or put on a hanger and hold by hanger, dip shirt into dye up to the place where you want the color to start and pull out immediately. This is going to be the lightest color.
3. Now dip again, leaving the top third of the already dyed section out, and hold it in there for about 15 seconds(depending on your preference) to achieve a darker color.
4. For the darkest color, dip the last third of dyed section and hold even longer. I wanted the bottom of my shirt really dark so I added the rest of the dye powder hung it over the faucet and left for a couple minutes. (100% cotton will hold dye best) 
5. When you achieve the colors you like(you may need to dip a couple more times to make sure it's even), squeeze out excess liquid and hang to dry overnight. I just hung mine outside...easy no mess.
6. Next day, I rinsed in cold water and washed in washing machine.

*For every layer of color, I wiggled the shirt back and forth a bit so you wouldn't be able to see a straight line and it would have a more faded look. 

For off the shoulder look, I started cutting from about 1 1/2-2 inches from where the seam for the sleeve is, across to the other side going down to just below the existing collar. You should put the shirt on first to decide where you want it hang. Do a little at a time, then if you need to cut more you can.

Click HERE to see another ombre dip dye shirt project!