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In honor of my sister’s first child, we are adding Baby Shower Gifts to the Wine and Sprinkles DIY arsenal! :) When I was thinking of baby shower gifts the first thing that came to mind was all the fun HTV decals I could make for onesies! But since white onesies weren’t quite colorful enough for me, I decided to dye them first!
If you are looking to make some onesies for a special mama's little one, I would highly recommend dying them some fun colors beforehand! It's a super easy project that is a couple hours of time of letting clothes sit in dyes and wash in the washing machines for super fun colored onesies!
Since I wanted to dye multiple colors all at the same time, I bought a multipack of these 16 qt Sterilite Containers and it worked out so well! I was able to dye all my onesies at the same time and, for a couple hours or work, made dozens of onesies in a rainbow of colors for my nephew!
Supplies:
- White Onesies
- Cotton Color Dye
- Salt (½ cup per color)
- Dish Detergent
- Plastic Gloves
- Sterilite Plastic Containers or Stainless Steel Sink
Start by washing and drying all the onesies you want to dye to remove any starches or detergents currently in the fabric. Put on gloves to start preparing the dye baths.
2. Now, prep the dye bath for your onesies in a sink or plastic container. For each color you want to dye your onesies, you will need a separate bath. For each color bath, make a dye mixture consisting of:
1 gallon Hot (140-160° F) Water
½ cup salt
4 - 6 oz Clothing dye
½ tsp Liquid Dish Detergent
For the colors I made, I used the following combinations of dyes:
Red- 6 oz. Cherry Red
Orange - 4 oz. Lemon Yellow + 1 oz. Cherry Red
Yellow - 4 oz. Lemon Yellow
Emerald - 4 oz. Emerald
Blue/Green - 4 oz. Emerald + 2 oz. Denim Blue (I’d recommend 1 oz)
Blue - 4 oz. Denim Blue
If you are using a dye other than the ones I used, make sure to check the instructions on their dye mix ratios!
3. Once the bath is made, add your onesies to the dye mixture, completely submerging and soaking each individually as you add it. Once all the clothes are added, stir the dye-onesie mix and cover with the container lid (if you are using containers like me). I made 4-5 onesies in each color.
4. Let the onesies soak for one hour, stirring every few minutes to mix the dye with the onesies. I ended up not stirring them, but I should have! Mine came out a little marbley, which I thought was super fun but if you are looking for a more consistent color, stirring often is key! :) I also let the Yellow and Orange Onesies soak for an extra 30 minutes because they were a lighter color and I wanted to make sure it got dyed all the way!
Now what do you do when you are done dying your onesies? Add some super cute HTV decals to personalize them for a perfect handmade baby shower gift! You can check out our Baby Onesie Projects Here for lots of different design options to perfectly customize your gift to delight your mama to be!
5. After the onesies are dyed to your desired shade, remove them from the bath and wash them in the sink under cold water until the water begins to run clear. Then, wash them on warm with a mild detergent and an old towel in a washer; dry, and you’re done! I ended up washing and drying each color of onesies individually, to make sure the colors didn’t run.
