//Reverse dye//

Yes, still on a dying spree.

It occurred to me that perhaps I could look at the dying process from the other end ... perhaps I could R E V E R S E dye?

Grabbing a faithful black cotton-blend midi dress (mink pink) that had seen better days, I used synthetic string to truss the old girl up as if I were about to tie-dye her. It's important to fold the fabric like a concertina [otherwise you will get two big clumps of colour on either side and nothing in the middle] then tie the string in crossing loops as tight as possible. Then -- and this is the good bit -- I submerged the dress in a mix of 2-parts laundry bleach to 1-part water for a few hours.

Now, I know: bleaching can be risky. But, if you have something dark [black, as here, but a chocolate brown, forest green or navy would also work] that has need of radical revamp or will shortly head to the charity shop then why not give it a shot? As the pics below illustrate, you'll never get a bright white in the bleached sections -- from black, I'd describe the bleaches sections as very mikly coffee coloured. Of course, this is for natural fabrics (cotton, silk); the higher the synthetic content the poorer the result.

I was tres pleased with the results, and it's given me something appropriate to wear with last summer's clogs.

xo Linds.

//Spring greens//

In 2009 I purchased a cream flamenca-style shell top to wear to a friend's [lovely, joyous] wedding, and the top performed its duties on the day admirably. But … what next? Sartorial exile in clear-walled prison of a dry-cleaning bag? The bin? Or … rehabilitation?

My cream flamenca-style shell top had spent almost 2 years Anne Frank-ing it under my bed when I extracted it to prove that the rehabilitation of wedding guest wear is possible; that you can have fun with a one-off look and later massage it into an item with wider application. Or, at the very least, you can try.

The job was a two-part-er:

//Task 1: De-ruffle-ification// Having carefully unpicked the stitches anchoring the parasitic ruffle to its host shell, a few hand-sewn stitches were all that was need to give it a polished finish. What struck me working with this gorgeous silk shell (I wish you could touch it, dear reader), was the fabric's ability to "heal" itself; punctures in the fabric closed up hours after the violent stitch is removed, and by the end of dying process they were completely gone.

//Task 2: Re-colour-ification// On a roll after my Coat Therapy post, I dipped back into the Dylon collection and, taking inspiration from the season unfolding around me, selected a dye called Rainforest Green.

I couldn't be happier with the result. It's got pop and wearability and the rebirth of this gem is what Spring is all about.

xo Linds.

[nude belt, asos]

... the original ...

//Chanel-o-vision//

xo Linds