Tea Dye For: White & Black

Snow swirling off my back porch

Big snow storm on Wednesday, right? I get a notice on Facebook that my boss has a snow day. That means I don't have to drive over an hour (one way) to work (library). Now about my other job. Well, it's still snowing pretty hard, I can work from home. Daughter is still snug in her bed (her school announced a snow day the night before), so down I go to tell Mom. No where to be found. I throw on my boots & step out the back door to yell to her to stop shoveling...

She is wearing Dad's bright yellow coat & is FACE DOWN in the middle of the driveway. I run out there. She knows she broke her ankle (she was right- in 3 places). I go wake up Fiona, call 911, grab a garbage bag & head outside...

My aunt meets Mom at the hospital. I stay home with Fiona. Now what to do on an unexpected snow day while I wait to hear about Mom. (She had surgery on Thursday & is resting sorta comfy in her own bed.)

Whooped Fiona's butt on D.A.N.C.E. by Justice

Aside from playing the Wii, in which I trounced said daughter in 100 pin bowling, & more than 1 dance on Just Dance 2 & 3, I was able to do some more tea dyeing.

Youthberry & Wild Orange Blossom white tea

White napkins, table runner, & place mats ready for dye

Pouring the hot tea onto the napkins in a heat resistant bowl

Of course I needed to partake in a cuppa

place mats soaking up the white tea, citrus, & berries

Out of the tea, ready for the dryer

Before & after

After the linens came out of the dryer, I was pleased with the result, even if they came came out a bit more purple.

I decided to do the next batch, napkins & table runner, with a bitter black tea, that was a big dud a few tea parties ago.

Black tea ready for brewing

Pouring the tea over the table runner

Black tea dyed linens & white tea/citrus/berry dyed linens

Now to add some embroidery! I'm thinking some pink leaves with dark brown stems for the pink-ish linens. Maybe even some doodles. Not sure about the other. Suggestions?

Tea Dye For: Redwork

Back in 1998 when I picked up crewel & embroidery after a 15 year hiatus from needlework, I started using water & air soluble transfer pens to draw or copy patterns on to cotton. I stopped for a few reasons. 1.) They are not free & I have lots of pencils lying around. & 2.) Why would I use a pen or marker on my fabric when I know they aren't pH balanced? Then I found this & I have never gone back to using them again.

That being said, I do have some orphaned redwork blocks lying around waiting to be included in a project. Some of these blocks are from the time before I used pencil. &, yes, they were discolored, possibly due to the blue transfer pen. Oh, what to do...

The answer: tea dye them!

I used loose tea, but tea bags are just as effective

Brew the tea with hot water, but steep longer than you would for your cuppa

Discolored redwork blocks I decided to tea dye

Pour the brewed tea on the blocks using a clean baking dish

I placed block upon block in the dish and added more tea as needed

Tea dyeing in progress

Squeezing out the hot tea. Cold tea can be used for a less intense color.

Rinsing the blocks with cold water

After rinsing, the blocks head to the dryer for 30 mins.

Fresh from the dryer

Tea dyed blocks made into small pillows.

Tea dyeing is a pretty simple process. You can use other teas for different colors or browns, pinks & yellows.