This is not a jeans dyeing tutorial.

I have a confession to make. The very day after I wrote about Value versus Cost, I went out and bought a pair of cheap jeans. There are some garments that are going to wear out just as quickly whether you pay £10 or £100 for them, and jeans fall into that category for me.

I went into H&M to look at the Matthew Williamson smocked dresses and shirts, and whilst they didn’t suit me (and the smocking was cheated, with elastic) I did rather fall in love with a pair of his men’s jeans. I liked the fabulous bright pink colour, and the studs around the waistband. I tried them on, but the style was not especially flattering on me. So, I sadly left them behind.

By that time I couldn’t get pink jeans out of my head. Could I find a pair in any other shop? Of course not. But then I remembered that New Look sell white jeans, so I grabbed a pair in my size (and a much more flattering cut!), and set about dyeing them in the washing machine.

I had planned to write a tutorial on how to dye your jeans, using Dylon machine dyes. Then I realised that the tutorial would read:

1. Buy a pair of white jeans.
2. Buy a packet of Dylon Machine Dye in your preferred colour.
3. Measure out 500g of salt.
4. Follow the instructions.

That didn’t seem like much of a tutorial really, so you’ll just have to believe me when I say that I am now the proud owner of a pair of EXTREMELY pink jeans!

Don’t forget that you don’t have to start with new jeans, or go for such a bright colour. I’ve often used Dylon’s black machine dye to revitalise an old, faded pair of jeans. These dyes also work really well on cotton sheets, t-shirts… anything made from cotton that can safely go through the washing machine. The only thing you need to watch out for is the polyester stitching you find on most garments – that won’t pick up the dye at all. But if you choose your colours carefully, or add a bit of embellishment to match the stitching, you can make it look as though you planned it that way all along.