I have been wanting to make a dip-dyed tablecloth for at least a year, and felt that the birthday party was the perfect opportunity to try it out.  Even though I’ve seen them everywhere, there actually aren’t that many DIYs on how to do a dip-dyed tablecloth, but I figured it couldn’t be too hard.  I went to Michael’s and picked up some dye and then went over to Blackhawk Hardware, which luckily had a quite reasonably priced tablecloth, and then I went to work.  This is really easy and actually looks even better if you mess it up a bit.  The hardest part is waiting for the thing to dry.  Like all week long.  It was still a great little project that I got quite a few complements on.  If you have a white tablecloth that you don’t love hanging around, I say go for it.

What You’ll Need:

– Large pot

– Tablecloth – I used a round one I found at Blackhawk Hardware but there is also a super reasonable rectangular tablecloth at Ikea that I considered

– Dye – I used Rit Dye Tinte in the Teal color because it got the best reviews online

– Patience

What You’ll Do:

1) Figure out which part of your tablecloth you want to dye.  I just wanted to do the bottom edges, and I wanted it to be pretty even.  So I kept folding the tablecloth in half until it looked like a pie piece.

2) There are some pretty specific instructions on the Rit Dye box for several different ways to dye your fabric, but I went with the good old boil hot water in a big pot and dump in the full packet of dye method.  Because measuring seemed like too much work.

3) I mixed the dye/water mixture well and let it liquid get hot, and then dipped the tablecloth into the dye for about 15-20 minutes.  I think the time all depends on how saturated you really want the color to be.  I also left the bottom edges in longer because I wanted it to have a bit of an ombre effect.

4) Once you are done, run the dyed cloth under cold water until the water running down the sink stops turning blue (or whatever color you are using).  Be very careful when taking the dyed cloth from the pot to the sink – I had crappy towels all over my floor and made Corey carry the pot underneath me when I moved.

5) This is where I strayed from the instructions because I thought that they were wrong.  It said to wash the fabric in warm water and then put in the dryer to dry, but I kept reading this that said washing the fabric made the dye bleed, which did not sound like the ticket to me.  So I let the tablecloth air dry just to be safe.  It took about 5 days.  Since the party is over, I am now going to wash the tablecloth per the instructions, and will let you guys know if there is any bleeding.