Hand-made Osnaburg short/Rebozo baby wrap (PART 2: Dyeing)

Yesterday, I completed the dyeing portion of my homemade osnaburg rebozo, and I would share my thoughts and results.

First, I had already purchased my dye when I purchased my fabric. The dye I bought was Dylon brand in Tropical Green and Ocean Blue. My first mistake was purchasing only one packet of each color. I didn't realize that I was limiting my options so much by not purchasing at least two packets of each, even though it looked like it should be more than enough. Each color dyes only 8 ounces of fabric. My fabric weighed 12 ounces, and I needed each color for 2/3 of the fabric, so that seemed perfect, right?

I had a choice of two methods to gradient (ombre) dye my fabric. One method involves placing the fabric in a deep container and slowly adding increments of water in time intervals, so that the water level rises as the dye solution dilutes. The width of my fabric was 28.5 inches, so 2/3 of that width meant I needed a container at least 19 inches tall to complete my gradient for each color. I did not have a container that tall. The few containers that I had that were tall enough had too much length and width, which would increase the water volume needed to attain 19 inches of height, which would dilute my dye too greatly to be of any use. Here is where additional packets of dye would have been helpful.

The second method to gradient dye my fabric was to have my 4 cups of dye in a smaller container, submerge the 2/3 of fabric into the dye, and slowly over time pull the fabric out by increments. I had seen posts online elsewhere that showed this method working out okay, so I opted for this method.

I had my container. It was math time. The dye required 60 minutes of exposure for the full color, so I divided 60 minutes by 8 increments to get a gradient. That meant that I could divide my fabric into 8 increments and leave each increment exposed to the dye for 7.5 minutes before I pulled the fabric up to the next increment. I decided to do 2 inch increments on my fabric and added the remainder to the final increment so that my "rail" or edge was a bit bigger than the other increments.

I had decided to hang my fabric on a hanger and suspend it over my dye with a curtain rod. I propped my curtain rod on both sides with a chair. I coincidentally found a "space-saving hanger" that had holes positioned 2-inches apart that worked perfectly to support moving the fabric up in 2 inch increments. It was too perfect. I think it would be a good idea to make a chain of zip ties to attain a similar home-made result. I put my dye container inside a cooler for splash protection.

Finally, it was time to dye. I soaked my fabric in salt water according to the dye package directions. I mixed my green dye and submerged my fabric to a 19-inch marker I had placed on my fabric. I let it sit for 7.5 minutes, then pulled it up one notch to my first increment. I repeated the process of letting the fabric sit in the dye for 7.5 minutes then pulling the fabric up a notch.

Gradient dyeing with Dylon Tropical Green

After my final dye sitting, I pulled the fabric out and rinsed until the water ran clear. I put the fabric in my washing machine, and washed and dried the fabric.

Next, it was time to do the blue dye. I repeated the same process as with the green dye, beginning with a salt water soak.

I finished with another spin through the washing machine and dryer. My fabric dye job was complete.

I am disappointed that the gradient didn't take. There is some overlap of the green and blue in the middle, which I am happy with. If I had to do this all over again, I would try to find a deeper container and purchase more dye so that I could do the dilute method instead of the pull-out method.