Sunday, August 21, 2011

Tea-Dying Fabric

Tea-dying fabric is really easy way to give fabric a vintage look.  You don't need a lot of supplies to master this.  
 What You Will Need:
6-quart stainless-steel pot (I used for this project, it was small)
*Note- use a 12-quart or larger stainless-steel pot if you dye yardage
1 1/2 gallons of tap water
your fabric ( I dyed 5 of these sachets)
3 black tea bags
*Note- to dye yardage use 6-7 black tea bags
Stainless-steel tongs
mild detergent

I first, put about a gallon of water on the stove in my pot to boil.
Meanwhile, I filled my sink with cold water and soaked the fabric with cold water.  The fabric will take the dye more evenly if wet.
When the water is boiling I put in the tea.  I boiled that for 10 minutes.  You can boil it for up to 30 minutes to an hour.  The longer you boil it the darker the tea.  My tea is extremely strong and it was dark enough in 10 minutes.

I took my fabric and wrung it out and then added it to the pot of tea.  Turn the heat off and allow your fabric to steep for as long as needed to achieve the desired color in your fabric.  It can steep for several hours and even overnight if needed.  My fabric was again ready in about 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally and check the fabric color.  *Note -fabric will appear darker when wet.  
When finished take your fabric out of the water with tongs and rinse under cold water till the water runs clear.  Then wash your fabric with a mild detergent.  Rinse and drip dry. 

*Note- before dying it is always best to dye a test swatch and keep record of steeping times to give you the desired results.

Here are my resultsThe tea-dyed fabric is on the left and the normal fabric is on the right.

In this picture also the tea-dyed fabric is on the left and the normal fabric is on the right.

I am filling these up with some very fragrant lavender and making sachets.  They are now for sell in my Etsy shop.  
Sherry
I will link it to:
Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage
Amaze Me Monday  at Dittle Dattle
Metamorphosis Monday  at Between Naps on the Porch

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