How to Dye Dyed Knitted Fabric

Dyeing is a chemical process used to impart color onto fabric or yarn, usually through dissolving dye molecules into water to form a liquid solution or powder or paste dyeing mediums such as dyeing powders. As dye molecules bond to the fabric molecules during dyeing, color absorbs into its fibers while any excess is washed away during the washing cycle.

Dyeing woven fabric typically means dying it once it has been formed into garments, while knits and other yarns can often be dyed before incorporation into clothing, known as garment dyeing. This practice can be found across apparel such as shirts, pants, dresses, and scarves as a great way to give old clothing new life while at the same time giving new life to faded or worn-out clothing.

For optimal dyeing results, you must test your dye bath first to gauge how it will appear in your project. Doing this by submerging a small piece of yarn into the dye bath for several minutes and then letting it dry will allow you to see an idea of how the final product will look and make any necessary adjustments if necessary.

Mercerization and dyeing knitted fabrics is another effective method for dying them, often seen with higher-grade knits, as it makes their fibers more absorbent while helping prevent any bleeding of dye onto nearby fabric threads.

Before any dyeing can take place, mercerized fabric must first be dried and cleaned - an arduous yet essential step that ensures quality knitwear when finished. Furthermore, drying and cleaning processes may release some internal stresses stored within knitted fabrics to improve appearance and quality.

Tie-dyeing is an increasingly popular dyeing technique used to make colorful sweaters and other knitted items. While the process itself is relatively straightforward, you must adhere strictly to instructions when conducting it and test a small sample piece of fabric before applying your dye to knitting projects.

A knitted garment bleeding is nothing to worry about and is almost always caused by over-dyeing or improper application of dye. Bleeds can occur with hand-dyed and commercially dyed clothing, and while application errors may be difficult to fix without immediate detection, with proper precautions and techniques, they're easily avoidable - for instance by making sure that every time you wash, your garment, it is thoroughly rinsed after each cycle to make sure the dye doesn't transfer onto skin or other clothes.