Saturday, 14 January 2012

DIY dip dye shorts

So after following Sabo Skirt on facebook/instagram and their blog, and seeing many replicas being sold online for ridiculous prices!! I decided to make my own pair of dip dyed shorts. And they were oh so simple and roughly came to just over £10....bargain?!

Here's how I did it....
All the instructions are on the back of the dye packets and it's simple enough. Firstly you add the dye contents to 500ml of warm water and stir thoroughly. You then fill a bucket with 6 litres of warm water and stir in 250g of salt. Then add the dye to the bucket and give it another good stir.
I think clipped my garments on to two coat hangers as I didn't want to dye the whole lot and this was the best way I found to keep the top half out of the water.
I've done too pairs of shorts, this pair with pink at the bottom and purple and the top and the other pair, the other way around.
They need to be kept in the dye for roughly an hour and you're meant to stir regularly but as I couldn't I didn't and they ended up fine haha
After the pink was done I think turned them up the other way and put the remaining white jean areas into purple dye. Leaving for another hour, you then need to rinse the garments in cold water and then wash thoroughly in warm water. 
And hey presto, leave over night to dry and you're done :) simples!
The dye seemed to take effect over night as they dried and the finished result yesterday morning was this...
I didn't know whether to keep them like this or stud them. So I decided to keep the other pair (low rise topshop skinnies originally) for the summer, on the beach etc and then stud these ones. 
The following photo's are of them on. The colours make them more Spring/Summer wear, but I think they could be dressed up with tights and heels for a night out.
(excuse my little bit of bum cheek)

It annoys me that companies are selling shorts like these and other designs for ridiculous prices. I've seen some as much as £90 and knowing they only cost me £10 in materials and 3 hours max to make, I really want to make some more and sell them... would any of you be interested in buying some if I did that?!

I'm currently watching about 20 pairs of denim and white denim shorts/jeans on eBay so I may well set up a little blog shop soon. The possibilities with these are endless and I really want to try studded cross pockets on the next pair :) x

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77 comments:

  1. these look gorgeous, love the colours you've used! ooh yes i'd definitely be interested in buying a pair :) xx

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  2. SO awesomely awesome. I think if you sold them for max £20 a piece you'd get a lot of orders. x hivennn

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  3. Wow, these are gorgeous! I don't think they would look all that great on my size 16-18 bum though... :( xxxx

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  4. this is amazing, I'd probably buy a pair! Might give it a go myself though too x

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  5. Ohh these are lovely sweet.. I deff would xx

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  6. If these were in a store, I would so buy these. Love the studded ones! I'm thinking of trying it with shoes sometime x

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  7. sooo pretty!

    handbagfullofdreams.blogspot.com

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  8. thank you! i've been thinking of doing them myself for ages im defo going to try this out, its ridiculous the amount companies are charging to do this sort of thing!
    x

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  10. They are amazing, I wish I had the time to attempt my own, I'd definitely buy a pair, especially if they were studded as well (I have a soft spot for studded things, they make everything cooler) x

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  11. They are INCREDIBLE! I so want to make my own. Might try and persuade my boyfriend to help me next weekend as I would probably make a big mess. Adore this blog post xx
    Ella @ Belle Vintage

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  12. They look sooo good and I really like how these fit, did you actually get these shorts from next or ebay? xxx

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  13. I am organising a bit of a 'trashion' show at my school and think I might try this with a pair of baggy vintage jeans! Yours really turned out well. I love your blog xx

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  14. please check out my blog@
    looklovewear.blogspot.com and follw x
    i am gonna try the dip dye thing now....just need to get shorts

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  15. so so amazing, they look so professional kim! would defs be buying a pair (and probably all your other diys too hehe) if you set up a shop!

    beth x ramz and the flock

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  16. You actually are ridiculously good at DIY, these are amazing! I think setting up a wee shop would be a brilliant idea xx

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  17. the pastel colours are gorgeous! and they turned out so well; they look shop bought :)
    xx

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  18. They look amazing! Well done :) xx

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  19. Oo, they came out so well! I've been thinking about doing this with a skirt for a while, but now I'm tempted to do some shorts!
    x

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  20. they are amazing. you always have brilliant diy's! i would definitely buy a pair if you had a little shop :) xxo

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  21. these are fab! I've got so much dye I want to use up but my mum won't let me until the summer because I make too much mess haha. x

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  22. They look amazing, great tutorial! I used to think dip dye was very hippyish but these just look so nice!

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  23. I've been thinking of selling shorts like that too! For the cost it is to make them, and then what you can sell them at you could make a nice amount! Do you get your studds from eBay too?

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  24. I have wanted to do a pair of these for aaages but could never find any white shorts...don't know why I didn't think of eBay tbh, I do for everything else! Definitely copying this, gorgeous xx

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  25. Wow well done! Love the colours! xx

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  26. I like so much this post. Well done.

    http://paquetevistasbien.blogspot.com

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  27. Awsome shorts, I love the pastel colour the dye has come out to.

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  28. really nice DIY. these colors are the kinds i'm so excited to wear this spring!

    -rose

    rose-et-violet.blogspot.com

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  30. sooo creative :D love it!! this blog is faaabulous!
    http://spliffedcookies.blogspot.com/

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  32. they look fantastic, great job! i would be too scared to try and dip dye anything haha.

    xoxo,

    janet

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  33. These look amazing! I wish I had some white shorts I could dye now, might have to get some from ebay :P

    L x

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  35. These are so good! I think you could take these to handmade/vintage clothes sales xx

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  36. Could you use these with any shorts or would they have the be the high wasted ones? x

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  38. They're fab! You're so creative! xx

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  39. That's amazing!

    http://thatismystyle-styleguru.blogspot.com

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  40. They look so wonderful! <3 I love that shade of lavender!

    x
    Lost in the Haze: Fashion Blog

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  41. Super cool!

    http://thefashioninbox.blogspot.com

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  42. These are amazing! Definitely gonna make a pair for summer! I can't believe the prices that people will pay for custom shorts.. so much cheaper to just literally DIY and you can do them exactly how you want them too!

    The Deer Head

    x

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  43. LOOOOOOVE!!!!!!!!!!

    love from berlin
    jasmin
    http://my-berlin-fashion.blogspot.com/

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  44. its my fave! love their shoes way too much! they have lita look alike in too!

    xxxx

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  45. The shorts are really cute! I love the colours x

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  46. They look super hot!

    http://celebritystyletips.com/

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  47. So perfect for summer! Love the colours you used! x

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  48. The colours together are amazing! And the studs really finish everything off. You crafty lady you! x

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  49. those shorts are a great shape:) x

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  52. They look amazing, I think it's always better to customise your clothes because it's usually cheaper and way more satisfying!

    Follow me on http://littlespindrift.blogspot.com/

    LS X

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  54. The shorts look amazing! I don't know how i haven't thought of that before! That's genius on shorts. REally good blog. It's a mixture of both sweets and clothes. aaah heaven...

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  55. WOW, they look so great ! <3 Nice job.

    Thanks for stopping by, and for your comment :)
    Have a great day,

    xx Satu
    Indie by Heart

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  56. Those are SO hot! I can't wait to make them! Thanks for sharing :)

    xo,
    Natalie

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  57. This is an incredible DIY- they look so professional! Love the dip dye effect and the studs too. :) xx

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  58. I was wondering where you got the actual shorts themselves?

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  59. I would!! i LOVE these! maybe without the studs though, as much as i love them i find it so hard to match things with them, i'm really limited to what i could wear with my studded shirt :(

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  60. where did you get that packets of dye from?
    I say it would be cheaper to find jeans in charity shops to cut up, eBay is expensive!

    xxx

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  61. I would!! They look so nice

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  62. Thank you so much for this post! I love the shorts!!!:D xx Joanne


    http://jhbitsandbobbins.blogspot.com/

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  63. what sort of fabric dye did you use? I'd love to try this out but don't know where to supply myself with the dye, haha

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  64. You don't have to buy white shorts. Black or any type of blue color will be fine too. Just put them into a bleach for about 2 hours and they will turn white :) Whats more - you can buy some regular long jeans and cut them. They will look more like damaged.
    Your shorts look nice, but I think something went wrong with the studds...
    Another pair will look better, Im sure. I'm going to dye my shorts too.

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  65. i would without a doubt buy a pair!

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  66. i would love to buy a pair!! please let me know if you sell some :)

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  67. Where are the dip dye packets from?

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    Replies

    1. You can buy them on ebay, or many hardware shops or craft shops sell them too :)

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  68. Where did you get the colour from ?

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  69. Where did you order these awesome colours ?

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  70. omg i was gonna buy a pair like these from top shop for £45 but if you start selling them i will start buying them off you!xo

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  72. I've just bleached my shorts and am desperate to stud them to give them that little bit more oomf! Where did you get the studs from?!x

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  73. Can I purchase some of these please? Xx

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  74. i love these! i really want to buy a pair off you! would you do smaller sizes(as i've got a tiny bum!) and differnt colours

    PS i would love to see a studded cross! x

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  75. It turned out great! I love your blog, I hope you check out mine too :)


    http://funandoblivious.blogspot.com/

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Thank you for all of your sweet comments.

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