Tutorial: How to Alter & Use Stained Onesies

Dear Amy,
As you know, our two boys arrived very suddenly last spring. They were five months and 17 months old at the time…just babies.

When we made the decision to take the boys and commit to making it work, we were instantly thrown into a whirlwind of preparation. We didn’t have the usual nine months to prepare for their arrival…we had a few days.



We didn’t have a room set up. We didn’t have cribs or car seats or strollers or clothes or toys. We didn’t have anything. Fortunately, generous friends and family rallied to provide us with hand-me-downs from their children. We very quickly accumulated everything we needed to welcome our little ones.

Some of the clothing we received had been worn by more than one child already, and although still in good shape, some of the shirts were showing some staining. But I hated to get rid of things simply because of a little staining or discoloration. So I got creative.

 

I looked around for some sort of solution for discolored onesies. Enter an ingenious little product I picked up at Hobby Lobby, my home away from home. For a few bucks a bottle, you can find tie-dye in little spray bottles. It comes in a handful of colors and is super easy to use.

This time, the basement worked fine for this project. Next time, I hope to do this type of project outside during warmer weather! I placed a large piece of cardboard down to protect the surface underneath. Then I spread out the onesies and started spraying. I combined orange and red on some and blue and turquoise on others. I focused on the part of the onesies that would be seen—mainly the neck and arms. Part of the fun of this project is not worrying about the color being uniform, just go crazy and spray with abandon!



I sprayed several at once and then flipped them over and sprayed the back. Once they were finished, I placed an old towel on my drying rack and then placed the onesies on that to dry. Once air dry, I heat sealed the color in the dryer. The directions for the dye are on the packaging.


Such an easy solution and so inexpensive. This was a life-saver during the winter months as the boys could continue to wear their short-sleeved shirts all winter layered with a long-sleeved onesie.

Love,
Kate