How to dye your wedding dress
Ever wondered if you could dye your old wedding dress? I get a lot of enquiries about this and occasionally I take it on myself and show the process on my YouTube channel. One of my most-watched recent YouTube videos was about the transformation of a wedding dress so it could be worn again, so take a look and see if it’s something you’d consider for your old dress.
Charlotte brought me her gown two years after her wedding having heard about her own granny dyeing her old dress and re-wear it in the 1950s.
She initially imagined a cornflower blue, similar to her bridesmaids’ dresses. But when she put a photo of her white dress into a colour change app (which I recommend before you go anywhere near a dye bath!), she realised she wanted something stronger. We talked through how different blues might sit against her skin tone, and it became clear that stronger, darker blues worked better for her.
This testing stage is one of the most important part of dyeing a wedding dress. Some dresses, even when dyed, still look unmistakably like a wedding dress that’s been dyed. Seeing the colour change in advance helps you judge whether the dress will genuinely transform, so I did lots of swatch testing on offcuts. It’s also a good chance to see if the fabric is going to shrink.
Charlotte planned to wear the dress to a summer wedding, so it needed to be strong but summery colour. We started by carefully pinning the hem, and then I cut it slightly longer than the final length to allow for accuracy and any shrinkage.
I kept every offcut, muddy hems and all, in case Charlotte wanted to do something else with these leftovers. Also, I needed a few for swatch testing.
The dress was labelled 100% polyester, so I used iDye Poly. If you order this directly from Jacquard products, then do use discount code CAROLINE at checkout and you’ll get 20% off. The dress had multiple layers — lining, interlining, and a petal-like outer layer — and I tested each layer separately because they all pick up the dye differently.
Once washed and dried, Charlotte could compare them properly. She initially chose a strong blue, then later emailed to ask for something a little lighter and more summery.Testing meant that change was easy.
The full dress was dyed in a large pot of near-boiling water, fully wetted beforehand to help achieve even colour. It only just fit, but there was enough room to keep it moving — essential for avoiding patchiness. Often the physical size and weight of a wedding dress is a deciding factor about dyeing. If you’re going to do it at home, you need to know you can actually get it in the pot with room to move.
After around 20 minutes, the dress was rinsed thoroughly, washed, and left to dry. When Charlotte came back to the studio, she was delighted – there was lost of twirling (always a good sign! And she kindly sent me a photo of her at her friend’s wedding wearing the newly dyed dress.
What do you think?
If you’re a bride-to-be thinking ahead, or someone with a dress stored away, then I hope this has inspired you. Do get in touch caroline@carolinearthur.com if you need any pointers when it comes to dyeing it yourself.
Occasionally I do take on dyeing myself, although full disclosure, I’m not a pro, so there’s still an amount of risk, and I mostly dye dresses to demo their transformation on my YouTube channel, so head on over there if you’re curious.
Have a great day!
PS. Ready to explore what's possible for your dress? Access my FREE guide to “Beyond the Big Day” HERE which is a video and PDF giving you an overview of where to start and what to do with your old dress - the first steps toward giving your gown the second life it deserves.
If you’re a bride-to-be, then download my FREE "Peaceful Dress Journey" guide HERE to discover answers to the most commonly asked questions from all my brides. After your wedding, I’ll then send you some ideas for what to do with your old dress.
You’ll find more about the bridal world in my book which you can buy HERE. It makes a perfect gift for a bride-to-be, or for anyone who loves sewing, upcycling and wedding dresses.
Thank you to Sally Faith for the beautiful photos.
