Upcycled BabyGap Jacket... For $4!

It is no secret that I love a good bargain, especially with kids clothes.  You can imagine how thrilled I was last week when I popped into a local children's consignment shop and saw end-of-season clearance bins for $1.  Lu was with me so I only had a few minutes to rifle through the 2T-3T girls stuff.  A lot of it was eh.  

But I did find a BabyGap denim jacket in practically new condition.  Yes, for $1.

The only problem was that it was white denim with a pink dye wash.  I know it was on trend 2 years ago, but it looked like someone accidentally washed it with a red sweater.  Not cute.

But for $1- hey, I can work some DIY magic!

Enter the Rit fabric dye.  Less than $3 for the box at Michael's.  The colors that I knew would cover the pink were fuschia, pale pink, and scarlet red.  Pink jackets are a dime a dozen for little girls so I went with the scarlet.

Dying fabric is ridiculously easy- all you need to do is follow the instructions on the box.  I chose the hot water in a bucket method.  I used 1/2 the dye powder and let the jacket soak for about 10 minutes (I knew I wanted a lighter red).  Rinse, wash, and let dry.

Final result- cost less than $4 and took 20 minutes of effort.

And it is adorable (if I do say so myself).

Here is how I envision it looking in the spring.

Please take note of the fact that Lu was watching the snow fall while I dressed her in this spring outfit. Ha! 

Right now you can get this exact BabyGap jacket in a dark denim version online for $29.99.  Or, save a few bucks and find a quality consignment shop near you.  :)  A helpful website is consignmentmommies.com.  Happy bargain hunting and DIY-dying!