The New Tea Dyed Fabric...

I decided to take pictures of the tea dyeing process so you could see how it turned out...and to maybe answer a few questions that have popped up in the comments.  First, a picture of my tools - a 24 quart pail (bought from the dollar store) and my broken yard stick used to stir the dye bath.

To mix the dyeing brew I use regular Lipton Tea.  

• I filled the pail half full of hot water.  
• Next, I filled two 2 gallon stockpots with water and placed them on the stove.  After the water reached a boil, I placed 20 packages of the tea in each pot and let them set for an hour.  
• The very dark brew from each pot was then poured into the pail. 
• The key here is to leave enough space for the fabric to get into the pail without overflowing AND to have a dark enough brew to get an effective dye coverage.

After submerging the fabric and swirling it around in the dye bath 

this was how it looked initially...

...and after a few hours...

I left the brew overnight and around noon removed it from the dye bath.  Here is how it looked when it first came out of the tea dye...

...then it was washed in the kitchen sink 

using cold water until the water ran clear.

Lastly it was placed in the dryer for 30 minutes on high.  

I added a white towel to catch any leftover dye water.

Fresh from the dryer it was ironed...

...and here is the finished product waiting to be cut out...

I will need to make a trip to Mood during the week to purchase some tan lining for the outfit but other than that it's dyed and waiting to be used.


I hope this step-by-step process will help you if you decide that you want to tea dye something...


...as always more later!