Region: Spokane, WA

Message: My daughter's bridesmaid dresses finally arrived but are the wrong color. They are chiffon.  What are the chances they can be dyed to the right color?  They are currently a pale lavender but should have been hot pink.  The wedding is in August but there may not be time to have new dresses made.  Can you help?

I'm sorry to say that I have no useful answer. This is an unfortunate situation. I strongly recommend against trying to dye already-sewn dresses for any formal occasion. It is possible to spend a lot of money and effort on buying the right dyes and a large-enough dyeing pot to dye the dresses, and yet then end up with ruined dresses. Unless they are both washable and made from an easily dyed fabric, you should either accept the color that your dresses are now, or replace the dresses with new ones. 

I'm afraid that it is unwise to buy dresses sight-unseen without a guarantee of refund or replacement if they are not as described. Sometimes people make the mistake of ordering bridesmaids' dresses from overseas without any guarantee of satisfaction, but often the colors turn out to be quite different from the color specified.

There are several reasons why you can't dye these dresses. One is that they are probably not washable. You can never dye anything that is not washable! Dyeing necessarily requires a great deal of washing. 

Another problem is that you do not seem to know the dresses' fiber content, which means that they are probably made of an undyeable fiber, such as polyester. (See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".) Chiffon is a weave, not a fiber. Chiffon can be woven from a natural fiber such as silk, but chiffon whose fiber content is not specified is very likely to be polyester, which is, unfortunately, inferior to real silk chiffon. Polyester can be dyed only by boiling it for some time with a special kind of dye called disperse dye; boiling your dresses may ruin them. You would also need to invest in a suitable dyeing pot which is large enough for the dresses to move in freely, and which you're not planning to reuse for food. It is much better to dye the fabric before the dresses are sewn, unless they are washable, pre-shrunk, and made of an easily dyeable fabric, such as real silk, viscose rayon, or cotton.

If the dresses were white, you could, perhaps, arrange to have them dyed, but there is no custom dyer anywhere, as far as I have been able to learn, who will dye polyester dresses that are not white. Very few custom dyers are willing to dye any polyester garment at all. If your dresses are made of a natural fiber, you can find contact information for a garment redyer on my page, "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?".

Good luck with finding a solution for your problem.

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