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Here is your step by step tutorial for dyeing or painting your groovy hippie bed sheet set at home

My youngest daughter just had a birthday and she has been working on fixing up and decorating her bedroom. She is not quite a teenager yet … that tween stage but she wanted something boho or hippie chic.

Since we needed to update her bedding, we opted to dye and paint the sheets and pillowcase instead of buying new. My girl loves cool … hippie … Pink Floyd … guitars … the Beatles … so, of course, she decided a colorful palette with a peace sign design.

This is a bit of a different take on the traditional tie dyed sheets method that also brings fun and colorful results.

image of a colorful pillowcase with a white peace sign

Dyeing, painting, upcycling are all up my alley so I painted and dyed her pillowcase and duvet cover with fiber reactive dyes. Next, I made a stencil and fabric spray paints to make a peace sign on the pillowcase, just for fun.

What type of dye do you need for sheets?

That depends on the fiber content of those sheets. If they are 100% or mostly cellulose fibers such as cotton, then you need what is called fiber reactive dyes.

These days, many bedsheets are made with at least a percentage of synthetic fibers. If synthetics make up the majority, you will need something like iDye that is specifically made for that.

Note: keep in mind, if your sheets are, for instance, 80% Cotton and 20% Polyester you can dye them with fiber reactive dyes, however the 20% synthetic will not take the dye so you would not achieve full coverage of the colors.

Supplies needed

What you need to paint the sheets:

Cotton Bedsheet and Pillowcase *
All-in-one Procion MX Dye Kit or
Procion MX Dyes **
Soda Ash Dye Fixer
Sponge brushes
Dust mask and gloves
Buckets, plastic sheets, old cups, etc

image of dye bottles, a sponge brush, soda ash dye fixer and text labels

* In order to use the fiber reactive dyes, your sheets need to be made of cotton, bamboo or other plant fibers. If your set is made of polyester, you should be able to paint them with Rit DyeMore.

**Make sure your dye is MX or Fiber Reactive Dye. The containers look very similar to the acid dyes which only work on wool, silk and other protein fibers.

What you need to make the peace sign:

Foam Board
Tulip Fabric Spray Paint
X-ACTO Knife
Markers
Peace Sign Template
Double sided tape

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Step by step dyeing instructions:

Wash the sheets

Before you begin, you will need to wash your sheet set on the hottest setting appropriate for the fabric. (Make sure and check the tag). This will remove any sizing or starch which can interfere with the dye process.

Soak the bedding in soda ash

Soda ash is needed for the dye to thoroughly bind to the fabric. Otherwise, the colors will simply wash out. So, according to the directions on the dye or soda ash container, mix up soda ash and water in a bucket and then soak your sheets for the time specified.

Mix the dye

In the meantime, you will want to go ahead and mix up your dye solutions, again following the directions on the package.

Safety note! Make sure and use a face mask to avoid breathing in the dye powder. Also, only use disposable or old containers for the dye stock as they will no longer be safe to use for food.

Paint the sheets

After the allotted time, remove your sheets from the soda ash bath and squeeze out any excess liquid.

Now, cover your table or other work surface with plastic and place the pillowcase or sheet on top, smoothing out the wrinkles.

Hippie Bed Sheets with Peace Sign, Fiberartsy.com

Before you actually begin applying the paint, take a moment to think about the colors you are using and how they may interact with each other. Wherever two colors touch, they will blend so you will want to make sure the resulting color looks good.

For instance, if you place yellow next to blue paint, you will have an area of green in the middle. Red and blue will make purple. Red and green makes brown.

When you are ready, pick up a sponge brush, dip it in the first tub of dye and start painting it on your bedsheet. Leave a little space between the colors as the dye will continue to spread.

Once you have applied dye to the entire surface, you will need to cover it with another sheet of plastic and let it sit for 24 hours. Finally, you will rinse out the excess dye thoroughly, and then wash your sheets in the machine and dry them all thoroughly (separately).

Make the peace sign

While your dye is setting, you have time to prepare the peace sign template. It is a pretty easy design to draw or you can find and download one from the internet.

Take your design and transfer it to a sheet of foam board. Now, using your X-Acto Knife, very carefully cut out your peace sign. Keep in mind that we will be using the negative shapes.

Again, protect your table with plastic and lay the freshly washed pillowcase (or sheet) on top.

Now, you will want to cut a separate piece of plastic (or cardboard) and place it inside the pillowcase to keep the paint from bleeding through.

Lay your template on the pillowcase and secure each piece with a strip of the double sided tape and then cover the remaining part of the pillowcase with plastic.

Finally, pick a color from your Tulip Fabric Spray Paint Set (I used the white paint).

Shake the bottle thoroughly and then carefully spray the spaces in between your cut out peace sign. You may want to put gloves on to keep the paint off your hands.

All that is left now is to let the paint dry completely – a few days and then, again, wash your bedding in the washing machine.

Now that you know how to paint bed sheets, you can have fun with all kinds of themes from unicorns, baseball, horses or how about a fairy bed sheet set?

Enjoy!
Annette

Yield: 1 painted sheet and pillowcase