Name: kim
Message: I purchased a 52% rayon, 48% acetate maternity pant suit with a plain long-sleeved top on eBay. The seller didn't say that the color of the top had been faded on one side (looks like sun exposure). The outfit is a light grape. Can I dye it at home to a darker color and hope to achieve an even color all over the shirt? If not, can you tell me how to get adventurous and tie-dye or batik the top with other colors or use a bleach to fade it in a pattern? I hate to just lose my money.

I hope that you have left appropriate feedback about the seller. Selling a damaged garment without mentioning the damage is fraudulent. (Have you contacted the seller and tried to arrange for a refund? Have you contacted eBay to report the fraudulent sale?)

Getting adventurous is the best approach here. There is no way to dye this suit and expect to get a smooth single color over the entire garment. As explained on "How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing?", dye is transparent, so the lighter section will never quite match the darker one. This problem is considerably increased by the 48% acetate content; like polyester, acetate is not dyeable at home, except by extensive boiling with a special kind of dye called disperse dye (see "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes") and a noxious carrier chemical. Bleaching is not a good idea, because most synthetics are easily damaged by bleach.

If you use cool water fiber reactive dyes, you can dye the cotton portion of the fiber to darker colors, probably using blue and/or magenta dye (you may wish to avoid yellow since it will combine with light purple to make a brownish color). An alternative approach is to use fabric paint, perhaps in a metallic or pearlescent color; I recommend Lumiere and Neopaque fabric paints. (You might be able to find these at your local crafts store, or mail-order from Dharma Trading Company.) You can get a tie-dye effect by brushing the paint onto a garment that has been tied as for tie-dye, or you can rubber-stamp or paint on designs.