How to Ombre Dye Rope for a Stitched Rope Basket

5 Materials
$10
2 Hours
Easy

Learn how to ombre dye cotton rope that you can turn into a stitched rope basket. You could do this in one color or blend a couple together, and you can even make a set in multiple colors!

You want to start with 100% cotton rope and dye that works for natural fibers. I use Dharma fiber reactive dye, but Rit dye from the craft store would work well, too.


Get cotton thread that matches the natural rope and the dye color, or you could even do a different color for some contrast.

Mix up the dye according to the directions on the dye package.


With gloved hands, dip a coiled section of the rope into the dye vat. Let it soak as long as the dye directions say.

Remove the rope from the dye vat, squeezing all excess dye and liquid back into the vat.


You can't launder a rope the same way you would with a garment or piece of fabric because it could fray and fall apart.


Empty the vat, and fill it with clean water. Squeeze the rope repeatedly in the clean water to remove excess dye.


You'll need to replace the clean water a few times, until the rope is no longer leaking color.

Completely uncoil the rope, and set it out to air-dry overnight.


When it's completely dry, you should roll it into a ball to make it easier to work with.

You can now use the dyed rope to make a stitched rope basket.


You can look up a stitched rope basket tutorial for more detail on this part, but basically you loop the rope around and run two loops side-by-side through the sewing machine with a zig zag stitch.

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Shrimp Salad Circus
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Margo Margo on Mar 02, 2019

    Can you use koolaid to dye rope?

Comments
Join the conversation
Next