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This week I’m upcyling a sweater to change the color.

A few months ago, my grandmother gave me a sweater that she made but doesn’t wear anymore. 

I liked the fit of it, and I especially liked the lacy sleeves. I’m always overheating in full sweaters, so sleeves with a little more breathability are nice. The only thing I wanted to change about it was the color. I really only wear black clothing, or the occasional dark color or neon color. I don’t really wear earth tones. I thought that this sweater would be a great chance to try dyeing something. Despite the many many times that I’ve dyed my hair, I’ve never dyed my own clothing. 

Since I didn’t make this sweater, I didn’t know what it was made out of. It felt like acrylic, but I still wanted to test it to make sure. (The fiber content will determine what kind of dye to use.)

This post has a great overview of how to test the fiber content of fabric, and you can use the same method for yarn.

I used a lighter, and held it against one of the loose tails on the inside of the sweater. It melted, and made a little hard lump at the end of the thread, so I knew it was acrylic. If it had been wool or another natural fiber, it would have burnt, and made a small bit of crushable ash. 

If you’re doing this at home with a store-bought piece that doesn’t have any tails on the inside, hold the lighter against a bit of one of the inside seams. Try to pick a place that won’t rub against your skin, because if it’s acrylic and you melt it, it’ll be a bit rough. 

Once I determined that it was acrylic, I went out and bought some synthetic dye. I used Rit Synthetic in the color graphite. (#NotSponsored)

I was a bit worried that it wasn’t going to be black like I wanted, because graphite is more of a dark gray. I went to two different places that were pretty well stocked with Rit dye, but I didn’t find any synthetic dye that was specifically called “black.” I mention this now because—spoiler—it’ll be a thing later. 

I basically just followed the instructions on the bottle. It says to wash the clothing first to get rid of any fabric softener. It also says to wet the fabric before putting it in the dye bath. I was able to kill two birds with one stone. I took it straight out of my washing machine and added it to the pot. 

Speaking of the pot. It didn’t say this on the bottle, but I’ve read that you’re not supposed to use a pot that you’ve dyed things in for food. I went out to a thrift store and bought the biggest soup pot they had. Now it’s going to live on as my designated dye-pot. 

I simmered the sweater for about an hour, and then rinsed it in my sink until the water ran clear. Surprisingly, the dye didn’t stain my sink gray, but your mileage may vary. The instructions said to either wash the piece by hand or put it into the washing machine with an old towel. I opted for the washing machine and old towel, but I regret it now. In hindsight, for a hand-knit piece like this, I really should have hand washed and laid flat to dry. Being in the washer with just a towel was too aggressive, and it stretched the sweater out of shape and made the edges pill a bit. (A shame, because I don’t think the sweater had been worn before this.) 

I popped the sweater in the dryer to try and shrink it back a bit. It worked, and confirmed that I was right about it being acrylic, but the collar was still wobbly and out of shape. 

Also, when I pulled it out of the dryer, I saw that it was gray, not black. It looks…like graphite, so I guess the bottle wasn’t lying. 

I tried to re-wet just the collar of the sweater so I could re-block it and try and fix the wobbly collar. It didn’t work great, but I’ll try it again with pins to hold it in place instead of just laying it out. 

Enjoy my photobombing dog, Fozzie, in this picture. He loves to check out any clothing that I leave unattended, especially if I lay it out on my bed like I did for this picture. 🙂 

All in all, the color isn’t bad. It’s not the black that I was hoping for, but it’s a nice gray, and I do think I’ll wear it (if I can fix the collar). Honestly, the dyeing process was so easy that I’m already planning to dye more things from my closet.