DIY: Ombre Tablecloth

This brilliant DIY is by Brittany of The House that Lars Built.

I wanted more than anything to make some ombre tablecloths for my wedding last year, but I assumed it would be tricky and messy. Well, I finally decided that the perfect time to try it out is for the table at the booth we are setting up at Portobello Road to sell the souvenirs my friend, Cramer, and I made for the royal wedding.The good news is that ombre is easy beazy. And I think it's going to be killer for the wedding weekend. Now, don't let the industrial look of the photos fool you, I just happened to be helping Cramer with her textile project at her school when she suggested I try it out in their facilities. I also tried it a few weeks ago in a bathroom using buckets. Use what you've got!



Materials:
3-4 buckets
water
piece of fabric
dye for textiles (I used Dylon in flamingo pink)
special salt (as required by the directions on the dye)


1) Fill up 3 or 4 buckets with varying levels of water and put in the same amount of dye into each one. Stir well. Add the salt in as required.


This post is by Brittany of The House that Lars Built.

2) I started with a test fabric, which I highly recommend. Start by dipping the fabric into the the bucket with the highest level of water and use that one to determine how high you want the dye to go.

3) Take the fabric to the next level of water and dip it lower. It may create a very noticeable straight line, but keep on going.



4) Repeat with the smaller bucket--the darkest amount of liquid. It, too, will most likely a very straight line.

5) The trick to smoothen the distinct lines is to repeat the process over and over, each time holding it in the water for longer amounts of time, maybe 10-20 seconds.



6) Next, I tried it on a white piece of fabric. I folded it up with the length I intended to dip so that it would enter the water more easily.

7) Repeat the same process as the sample piece but hold it in longer to really hold the color. You can keep it in the buckets for minutes. This will also give the dye time to sink into all the layers of the fabric that have been folded over.

8) When you think you have dipped it enough, open the fabric up gently to make sure there are no splotches of color. Re-dip if necessary.



9) Hang to dry.

10) Voila! You've now ombre'd your way to a tablecloth.



I noticed that the color faded a lot in the drying process, but I'm rather glad about it because it was a little too flamingo for me. I can't wait to try this on more items--some bed linens, maybe some pants. For now, I hope it goes over well at Portobello. Good luck!



All photos by Brittany for Oh Happy Day