In the spirit of trying something new, I gave fabric dyeing a shot yesterday. I finished my 2nd cup of French Pressed coffee when I thought,
Why not use the grinds to dye fabric? So I warmed up some more water and let the coffee brew. Meanwhile, I cut up some fabric pieces. I poured the brewed coffee in a bowl and dunked my fabric pieces. I let it steep for about 15 minutes before checking on it. It wasn't as dark as I hoped it would be. So I finally looked on line and the site I was reading said to simmer the mix. So everything went into a pot, with the grinds this time and I turned it to low and I left it alone for an hour. Here are the results:
The color really penetrated the fabric well. This photo was taken after I gave the pieces a quick bath in Dawn and cold water to remove the smell. I dyed 2 pieces of 28 count white opalescent Lugana and a piece of 22 count cream Aida. The Aida came out lighter than the Lugana. I think I have to leave it for another 30 minutes or so next time. One thing though... the Aida is still stiff after being boiled and washed!
Anyway, I am quite happy with the results. I will be using these pieces for ornaments. I'm also planning to dye a big piece of the opalescent to stitch Paradigm Lost on.
2 comments:
They look lovely! Congratulations!
Too bad you didn't think of that before you stitched Spot of Coffee! How cool would that be - a coffee sampler that actually smells like coffee?
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