How To Tea Dye

Tea dying is a simple way to give fabric a muted or vintage look.

I love the results I recently had tea dyeing a shirt and some fabric.

I wanted a vintage look and tea dying helped me achieve just that.

 To tea dye fabric you will need the following:

Big pot

25 tea bags (cheap store brand work just fine)

Water

Vinegar (optional)

 Fabric to be dyed

To get started you need to fill your big pot with enough water to cover the fabric.

Set the burner to high and wait for the water to start boiling.

When the water starts to boil turn the burner off and add the tea bags.

Let it steep for 10-15 minutes.

Pull out the tea bags and squeeze the water into the pot.

Add your fabric.  You will need to stir it every 5 minutes or so to ensure even dyeing

Once you get the desired color pull the fabric from the tea bath. 

Rinse it under cold water until the water runs clear.

Wash it in mild detergent using cold water. Add 1 cup of vinegar added to the water this will help to set the dye.

Dry and iron it.

 One of the things that always fascinates me when dying fabric is how different fabrics take the dye.

For this skirt the two cotton fabrics were dyed for the same amount of time, yet they came out so differently due to the different fiber contents. The lace fabric and lace trim took the longest to dye.  I had to leave it soaking in the tea bath over night with some vinegar added into it. I love the end result and the variety of shades that  came from that one tea bath.

Tea dyeing fabric before starting your project can be a little time consuming, especially if your like me. I get an idea in my head and I want to make it immediately. But it is well worth the wait when you get the results you were hoping for!