Saturday, 13 April 2013

Dyeing fabric - help please

Hi everyone,

I would like to either coffee or tea dye some dusty pink linen for an upcoming project. I would like to achieve an old fashioned mottled effect.

Any tips on the best way to do that?

Hugs,

10 comments:

gracie said...

I love to use tea/coffee for dying linen. I just brew either and soak the linen checking often for the desiered shade.

Catherine said...

I prefer coffee. Sometimes I will rub the grounds gently over the fabric ~ this will intensify the color in the areas that are rubbed.

Anonymous said...

good luck Kaye.sorry i dont know.xx

Claire said...

Never tried it, hope it turns out ok.

Deb said...

You go check out Vonna's site as I think that she has something about dying fabric there. I have used coffee, tea and walnut crystals and think that I like the walnut crystals the best because you can control the effect that you want. I did a piece where I actually took a paintbrush and painted it onto the fabric and it came out well as I could control lightness and darkness in different areas.

marly said...

I've only used coffee and I dip a cloth in it, then dab, sometimes use a paint brush, and then use the strong stuff left in the filter holder to dab a little more in a few spots. If I don't like it, I rinse it out.

Anne said...

Good ideas above! Love to see you dyed fabric!! :)

Deb said...

I use tea for my cross stitch pieces Kaye, I make up some tea and paint it on the fabric with a sponge brush. While it is wet, a gently dab the tea bag itself onto areas where I want a darker, mottled look. If it looks too dark, just add a little plain water to tone it down. You can then lay it on some parchment paper to dry or bake it in the oven (low temperature!) to dry it out. I turn it about every 4 or 5 minutes in the oven so it dries evenly and so I can watch that it doesn't burn. Deb

Mouse said...

hmmm some folks will dab on darker spots with coffee ... the other way is to tie dye it so that you get patches of lighter and darker ... have fun and let us know how you get on :) love mouse xxxxx

only done straight dip in and leave type ..lol

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I soak mine in a flat baking tray to get an even colour. You could try scrunching it up so some pieces don't get fully soaked?
I like using flavoured teas so the smell lingers when you stitch on it.

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