This Blouse was one of my first projects in College. I always call it my “Gothic Victorian Blouse”; however, it more resembles that of the Edwardian era style.
It’s comprised of a silk, collared shirt I found at Goodwill, some ruffled pants I found in a thrift bin, lace from JoAnn’s, and a collar pre-sewn off Amazon.
The dye for this blouse was the most painful process you can imagine. Originally, the sleeves, were these thrifted pair of pants that I had no idea what to do with, so I made them into the unique sleeves you see, but their original color was all neon.
Neon blue background, neon pink flowers, and neon green flowers.
Obviously, this didn’t exactly fit the vibe I was looking for, so I bought a lot of black Rit dye. The first pass didn’t work, only muted the colors, so I got some synthetic Rit dye.
Nada.
Ooookay, tried the natural black dye again.
Nope.
After THREE passes with dye and none of it working, I decided to try something risky. I happened to have some black leather dye that I was using to spruce up some thrifted shoes, and decided to see if it would help dye the sleeves better.
Now, if you don’t know, leather dye is extremely flammable. So, this process had to be done really carefully. I used the leather dye, applying it carefully, and then threw it in the washer twice before putting it in the dryer on air dry.
Finally, finally, the sleeves came out black. The dye has given them a rather odd texture, but they are no longer in danger of catching on fire.
I love Gothic Vintage Fashion, and I like taking on the challenge of creating such works.
Leave a Reply