I love me some skinny jeans, especially in a deep, dark black. Unbelievably chic and slimming. What I don’t like? The fading that happens with normal wear and washing.
My favorite pair (the sweetheart cut from Old Navy, amazing fit for us ladies with…um…well-endowed bottoms) was starting to look really faded. Like almost acid wash faded. I left those behind in the early 90s, mmmkay?
I almost contemplated giving them away and buying a new pair, but it felt like such a waste because the fabric is still is good shape and they fit me so well. Plus, I’ve only had them for about 6 months!
A few months back, Melanie over at The Love Library refreshed a pair of black jeans using some dye, and I figured I’d take a stab at it.
I used plain old RIT dye in plain old black. I followed the instructions printed inside the package pretty much exactly. I used hot water straight from the tap in our basement, because if you let it run for a minute or so it gets SCALDING hot. I left the jeans in the dye for about 30 minutes or so, then washed and dried them.
Here is the final result.
They didn’t come out quite as dark as I thought, but I keep reminding myself that they aren’t brand new jeans. They’ll never be “true” black again, but they are pretty darn close. You can definitely see a difference when comparing the before and after photos side by side.
I’m pretty happy that they are black again. Woohoo!
Now, about writing that lecture I’m supposed to give tomorrow night…
XO,
Gabriella
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The Craft Queen 
looks great! glad I could inspire you!
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The change wasn’t quite as drastic as I was hoping…yours came out so good! I might try “simmering” the water like you did the next time around. The stuff from the faucet was HOT though…I couldn’t put my hand in there, lol Still better than “gray” jeans, though!
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