Hi Everyone! Welcome to the topic Working With natural Fabric Dyes! I'm excited to share some fun and easy techniques for creating uniquely dyed fabrics as well as some more involved methods for using and creating dyes from natural elements. Throughout the course of this topic, we will cover many issues that arise when working with dyes, such as the proper equipment to have on hand, the recommended fabric choices, and garment creation from this new fabric. As we demo each technique and dye method we will apply these things and work through the issues that arise, together.
We've all been spending a lot of time at home and maybe getting a bit stir crazy, am I right? So let's move things outside and work on these projects while also spending some time outside! Browse the local farmers market or even your own backyard garden, you might be surprised what things you have on hand that can create beautiful natural dyes!
The topic will be divided into four sessions:
- Part 1: Topic Overview and The Avocado
- Part 2: Flower Petal Fabrics
- Part 3: Purchased Natural Dyes
- Part 4: Dye techniques and garment showcase
It's going to be a fun course! Are you ready? Let's go...
How To Dye Fabric With Avocado Pits
If I told you we were going to dye fabric with an avocado what color would you think we'd achieve? Green, right? Well, surprise! This dyeing method uses the avocado pits to create the dye bath and the result is a delicate shade of blush pink!
Watch the first video for this months topic:
Here's a full breakdown of the tutorial. I encourage you to try this one out!
Supplies and Resources:
This project is pretty simple, with no special tools or supplies needed unless of course, you live somewhere that avocados are not in season or are simply not available. Alternatively, you could do this same technique with tea bags instead of the avocado pits and depending on the type of tea, achieve a variety of colors. I used black tea to dye the Kings Canyon Peplum Top, it's one of my favorites pieces, it was originally a white rayon challis with cotton lace trims and now has a lovely vintage feel!
- 3 avocados (our have fairly large pits, if you find some with smaller pits you might need more). Where to buy? Grocery stores, farmer's markets, and our favorite place - Costco! We simply saved our pits in the freezer as we used the avocados and then had them ready to use when we were ready to dye the fabric.
- A large sharp knife and cutting board
- A large metal pot. A stainless steel pot is great for dying because the dye won't transfer to the surface of the pot. Check stores like Goodwill to find one for this purpose!
- Fabric. You can choose a variety of fabrics for this experiment. As you can see in the first image the color result will vary depending on the fibers the fabric is made from.
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Rayon Challis - I bought a 10-yard piece of white rayon challis a few years back and I've continued to use it for a variety of dying projects. It's a beautiful type of fabric, can be used in a variety of projects and responds very well to being dyed!
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Woven Cotton - The sample in the video is a white woven cotton with a puckered weave. It's 100% cotton and responded well to this dye method.
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Slub Knit - the fabric we chose is a rayon blend called a slub knit, it has a texture in the weave that also creates an interesting result when the dye is absorbed.
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Printed Woven Cotton - We also dyed a piece of white dot woven cotton. This one has a fun result, the dots "pop" because they absorbed the dye in a different shade. Here's a close up picture of that result:
Week One Task:
- Watch the tutorial video and follow along to create your own natural dye.
- Clean the avocado pits with water. Chop them into quarters.
- Fill a large stainless steel pot with water, covering the pits and allowing enough water to cover the submerged fabric too.
- Place the pot on a stove and bring to a boil.
- Simmer for 1-2 hours or until the desired color is reached. (If using tea bags, you only need to steep for 5-10 minutes and then remove the tea bags from the water.)
- While the pits are simmering, place your fabric pieces in a large bowl of water to soak. For this process, we are not using a mordant, simply water to prep the fabric for dying. We've chosen to dye fat quarters and 1/4 yard cuts. This seems to be a manageable size and provides enough fabric to create a garment.
- With the heat still simmering, add the soaked fabric to the dye bath. Be careful not to touch the pot or the water! Use a wooden spoon or stainless steel spoon as a stir stick. If needed add more water to cover the fabric.
- Let simmer for 2 hours. take a peek and see what your fabric looks like. If you're happy with this shade of pink, remove the fabric, rinse it with cold water and a mild detergent and hang dry. If you're looking for a darker shade, leave the fabric in the pot, turn off the heat, cover and let it soak overnight.
- Rinse the remaining fabrics and hang to dry.
- Press the fabric as the final step.
- Now comes the hard part! What will you make with your uniquely dyed fabric?
8 Comments
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Cynthia
August 14, 2020
I use Retayne 16 oz. purchased from Amazon to keep fabrics from fading. It takes like a capful to a gallon of water, and I wash jean fabric in it mostly.