Faded area on silk chiffon dress.

TimeAfterTime

TimeAfterTime

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Hello all of you Vintage experts out there...

I have a beautiful ruched deep purple silk gown with a large area of fading on the skirt. Is there a successful method of dyeing to cover the fade that any of you have used?

Replys most welcome.

Regards, David Ireland, Time After Time
 
Hi David -

Silk chiffon is so tricky to get wet. It shrinks! If you have the patience (and money) to buy enough dye tones and some silk chiffon, then you could take your time and do color swatches and get a good match. Then I guess you could pre-wet the area, then sponge on the dye. But you run the risk of shrinkage and a big tide line. Or a large ring where the existing purple takes on more dye.

I must admit I tried painting dye onto a black crepe garment with faded shoulders, and while it was better, it was still visibly a different tone. It just wouldn't take enough dye to get all the way to deep black. Dye just isn't the be-all and end-all I wish it was.

Hollis
 
You could attempt to air brush the dye onto the fabric or get someone who is good at air brushing to do it for you. This way you would be able to blend in the colour or at least conceal enough of the faded colour area to make the problem less noticeable. I've used an air brush (with compressor) on fabric before and you can get a very subtle gradation. You might find a local textiles craft printer (student/college perhaps?) who would give this a go if you didn't feel confident to try.

Ruched rather than flat fabric will be problematic because you are working 3 dimensionally. I'm assuming the area is ruched?
 
I don't recommend dyeing vintage clothing to hide marks and damage: it's very hard to get a good result but I agree that airbrushing might work. As long as you never had to clean it. Perhaps dry clean only? My experience is that you invariably end up with the mark showing still.

Nicole
 
This is an old thread, I was just trawling through, so I don't know if you have resolved your problem... Anyway.
Is there anyway you could make the dress shorter? Or perhaps you could find an piece of appropriate lace, beading or some sequins to cover the fade mark? You mention that the dress is ruched, anyway you could include that in the skirt and cover/disguise the fade mark with some artful fabric folding? Some pleats, a seam, more ruching etc. There are lots of ways that you could alter the dress to maintain the style or era of the dress without having to re-dye it. My few experiences with dyeing modern clothes have been very unsucceful, with lots of tears, so I'm not sure how you would go with dying a vintage piece...
Let us know if you were succesful, or how you decided to fix the faded area?
 
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