dip-dye dress

i may try more versions of this fashion project. the premise is simple: start with an existing top - in this case a classic button-down shirt - and add a piece of fabric at the bottom to make it into a dress. i used a cream-colored 54" wide piece of fabric, a little over a yard long. i folded it over - so the the skirt is a "bubble" and closed up the sides, leaving an 12" long opening, which matches up with the middle front of the shirt. i gathered the fabric in little, evenly-spaced folds and pinned it to the top. when it all looked ok, i sewed both pieces together. i soaked the whole thing in water and did a reverse dip-dye, dunking the shirt and top of the skirt in dark blue dye. i rigged up a washing line in my kitchen, so i could suspend the dress partially into the dye for about an hour, while stirring the dye carefully. i always add a few table spoons of salt which makes the color set. the tricky thing is then to wash out the dye while keeping the bottom of the dress out of the water. once you've rinsed out the dyed part as best as possible, wash the entire piece in the machine. the happy accident that happened here is that while both the shirt and skirt fabric were cotton, apparently the yarn that was used for the embroidery of the circles was not, so it did not take the dye at all. i thought it made for a cool effect...