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Wednesday 6 November 2013

Experimenting with Tea Dyeing!

6th November 2013

Great fun experimenting with this technique and cheap!

I sorted fabrics to dye from my stash, it took a while, found fabrics I had forgotten about!!


Lots of lovely textures for Unit 5...


..I cut  two small sample pieces from the fabrics to keep as a record of the result then soaked all for 1 hour in cold water. The hessian is the only fabric I didn't wash first....

...ready for the pot!


I used my largest casserole pot, added 8 pints of cold water and 16 tea bags and brought to the boil and let bubble for 10 minutes, it actually boiled over at one point (didn't expect that!) Tea bags were removed and the wet fabrics were added and boiled for 15 minutes, then white vinegar (half a fluid ounce to 1pint of liquid) was added and boiled for a further 10 minutes to fix the dye. 
Next time if I want paler shades I will boil for less time.

I put some of the tea bags on fabric to see what would happen..







I also tied some 1p's in cotton, and folded and twisted small pieces ...


...the results...

...I now have some lovely shades to work with...


..and now for my samples and results... 

(the sample on the left of the paper is the original before dyeing)

..cotton lace, a charity shop find, and white cotton and pure natural aran yarn  (the darkest)


..these are my favourites, linens and scrims, for colour and texture...


..some spots appeared on these samples!! a mystery..



The lower left is the silk, a really lovely colour.


I am glad I took the time to make these samples as they are a good record for future reference. I am really surprised at the range of colour. 

 It is hard to believe that a year ago I had never used my sewing machine for embroidery!!














1 comment:

  1. Wow, the fabrics have reacted so differently to the tea. What an excellent record.

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