I had to completely finish my sample piece so I could try this out. I bought some Camp coffee (an old fashioned chicory and coffee liquid mix), some gravy browning (I was amazed this stuff is still made, contents:colour E150c (is this caramel?), water, salt, and glucose syrup) and a box of the very cheapest super market own brand teabags.
Last night I boiled about 10 teabags in a saucepan of water. I poured off the liquid into a jug and then to a spray bottle.
This is the before shot.
This is after spraying with the very cold strong tea. I felt the colour was a bit too even, so
I placed one of the wet cold tea bags in a couple of places and squeezed it over others.
In real life the contrast is not as great as it appears in the photos. And of course I have to wait for it to dry to get the final effect. Fingers crossed. I'm also wondering about putting it in the tumble dryer or setting it with my steam generator iron.And should I wash it afterwards or not?.....
And it does seen at the moment the Camp coffee and gravy browning are superfluous.
awesome! I've done a little tea and coffee dyeing - let it brew! (dry) It will fade but I think it will be brilliant!
ReplyDeleteJust my very beginner opinion! I wish I could quilt like that!
Hugz
Sally in Hobart
I admire both your hard work and your bravery in dealing with the initial problem. I really hope that it all works as brilliantly as it should, as the quilt (and the sample!) look stunning.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Sally!
Plum
Unless it smells strongly of tea, I wouldn't wash it! Great fix.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could sew, especially like your sample. It's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSally, it's beautiful -- your quilting is so exquisite that it doesn't matter what color the fabric is! Your tea dying is really lovely, though. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I've done a little tea dyeing myself many years ago, gives a wonderful aged effect.
ReplyDeleteLooks absolutely stunning, hope you're feeling better about how it looks - well worth all the effort.
ReplyDeleteWow looks interesting. If you do decided to wash it..don't use a biological soap as they are designed to "get the stains out" and that will undo all your work.
ReplyDeleteI overdyed a mix of fabrics to blend them for a scrappy quilt about 12 years ago, and it is the only time I've ever had tea stains wash out. Go figure, as they say. Also, you might have fun throwing instant coffee granules on wet fabric, the colour spreads out randomly and you have a dark spot in the centre which looks a bit like foxing on paper. BTW, I found that Taylors Yorkshire Tea gave a beautiful colour ;-)
ReplyDelete