Last year I bought this off-white short-sleeved silk shirt from the thrift store. I wore it a few times, but never loved it -- it was too close to the color of my skin. So I decided to dye it darker using onion skins!
This was my first foray into natural dyeing, and there are a lot of people out there more talented and knowledgable than I, but this is what I did...
Here's the "before." It also had wooden buttons that you can't really see here.
I started saving our onion skins, and even asked at the grocery store and Target if I could collect the onion skins from their produce bins (awkward for sure, but everyone always said yes -- although this was pre-pandemic).
Once I had what I felt was enough, I boiled them for about an hour, then covered the pot and let it all sit for two days. Then I strained out the skins and composted them, retaining the liquid. I snipped the buttons off the shirt and soaked it in cold water, then submerged it in the dye and put the heat back on. I simmered the shirt in the dye for about an hour, then left it submerged for a few days (I took to heart the dyeing adage "longer is stronger") before rinsing it out and washing it regularly.
This was after the first wash. The color had changed, but I wanted it darker. I repeated the steps above, but using red onion skins. And then did it again after that, and added new buttons.
This shade works much better, I think! I certainly wore it more often this summer than I did the year before. And the experience made me feel a bit braver when it comes to natural dyeing.
