Experiment with Tea Dying Fabric

If you like working with reproduction fabrics or fabrics in muted tones instead of brighter ones, like I do, your quilts will have more of an antique look. Some quilters give their finished quilts a tea (or coffee) "bath" for that vintage or older, worn look. I'm always afraid to dye the entire quilt because I don't want to  ruin the contrast as ALL of the prints will become darker. That may not be quite what I want in the end. 

If you're hesitant to dye your quilts to get a certain primitive look, here's what I do:  Instead of dying the entire project, sometimes, before I cut fabrics for a quilt,  I'll experiment with a strip or large square of a fabric I like but that may be too bright and then soak those pieces that need to be toned down in a bowl of tea. Then I'll cut what I need for a block and use pieces in my quilt so they blend in with the other prints I'm using.    

                      

Some recent blues that have been tea soaked. Original ones on top were just a teeny bit too bright. Dyed versions are on on bottom. Just a slight difference. But enough to mute the brightness. It really is a small change but it makes a difference to me.

Here's a good example. That muted, tea-dyed blue just goes so well with the other prints now. I hesitated to use it before because I thought it was too bright and would stand out too much.

(Star on top right is the one with a dyed blue center.)

I really love fabrics in shades of aqua and teal. I also love "warm" blues, with a tinge of green or gray that makes them look vintage or old.  I used to be able to find these years ago. Have you noticed that good reproduction prints are getting harder and harder to find? Many of the fabrics nowadays seem to be a lot brighter as fabric companies move away from "Civil War" type prints to more modern fabrics.  I find that tea dying some brighter blues will often give me the color and tone  I prefer. I'm still hanging onto the style I have grown to love . . . . 

I don't use a lot of bright white in my quilts. Occasionally, I'll add some lighter prints to a block or quilt to contrast with creams and tans. Think I'll dye some of that button print above or the bright white one below though. 

The pinks on the left are ones I really like. Nice and slightly aged-looking prints. The ones on right are pretty too but SLIGHTLY bright for my taste. 

Before -  also pretty prints, just a little too bright for my taste

Here's the Recipe: 

Boil water and pour into to a bowl that's large enough to soak your fabric pieces. You can also use an old pot if you don't mind if it gets stained. 

Add 3-4 BLACK tea bags to the hot water. (Green tea or herbal tea will not work here but I've heard you can use these for other projects, such as cross-stitch linen.) Let the tea steep for a few minutes and then soak your fabric pieces.  Depending upon what look you're after, remove the fabric after 10 minutes and see how they look. This will probably give you a faint, slightly darker look. If  you want the pieces darker, soak longer or next time add more tea bags.  I'm usually good with 15 minutes.

Different fabrics absorb the tea differently, especially if they're treated, so you may have to play around a little. I not only dye white or light prints but I also tea dye pinks and blues and anything that needs to be toned down a bit. 

* Make sure you rinse well with cold water after you take the pieces out of their tea bath. I lay them on an old towel to dry, then press.  

After - You can see a slight difference in the light prints after 15 minutes of soaking. I'll use that dotted one more often now. The blue didn't really change much. 

I re-soaked the blue for another 1/2 hour. Still not much change but now not quite as royal blue. Clearly, lighter fabrics take the tea stain much better. Experiment with small pieces of fabric and different times until you get the look you're after. All in all, I'm happy and I'll be a little more eager to use these in my quilts now. 

Of course, this is just me and I certainly don't do this all the time. I never aim for a uniform tan tone in the backgrounds of all my quilts. I do like to mix a few lighter prints here and there for contrast. But it's nice to know that if I run out of a print that happens to be the perfect color/tone  for a quilt I'm making, I can make do with another one that blends in by tea dying it.