Tags
applique, Coffee Dying Fabric, Crafts, dying fabric, fabric, how to, postaweek2011, quilting, sewing
I couldn’t find the right fabric for a heart applique for a quilt block, (well, that’s a lie, I did find the fabric online, but I refuse to pay between 9 to 12 dollars for a half yard of fabric + shipping/handling)
I went through my fabric and found some that’s pretty close to what I wanted. The main-color is way too white and clashed dreadfully with the white background of my quilt blocks. It took me a few minutes to think of coffee dying the fabric. I looked up directions and was pleased to discover that it’s not too terribly complicated.
I adapted and adjusted some of the steps and am really happy with the way the block turned out.
Have you ever used coffee or tea to dye fabric? Did it do well? Did the the color hold up fairly well over time?
If you try my method of dying fabric with coffee, let me know how it does for you.
———————————-
Coffee Dying Fabric
1) Make coffee like
you normally would
2) Place fabric in a glass dish
Pour coffee over fabric
Allow it to set for 30 minutes
3) Remove fabric from dish
wring out excess coffee
allow to dry
I put paper towels on top of my fabric square
& paper towels underneath it & ironed it dry
If a darker color is wanted repeat step 2 & 3
I repeated this twice for mine.
4) I used vinegar to set the color.
I put just enough vinegar on the square to
cover it and then let it set for 30 minutes.
Afterwards, I ironed it dry like in step 3
5) Wash the fabric with dish-washing detergent
rinse & let it dry or iron it dry again
Here’s the finished dye job
I cut a heart shape out &
appliqued it on my quilt block
Here’s a comparison to
the original fabric and the newly
coffee dyed applique heart.
I’m real pleased with it.
—————————
*Here’s some Hopefully helpful hints*
~~~
If you’re going to use vinegar to set the color, ‘DO NOT’ use an aluminum pan.
The first square I made, I tried using an aluminum pan and it was terrible.
The vinegar reacted with the aluminum and turned it a nasty splotchy dark color.
Here it is, on the left side of photo, next to a successful square to show the difference.
~~~
I froze the leftover coffee in a bowl and added the left over coffee in the pot each morning for a few days to it. Now I have a handy supply of coffee on hand, if and when I take a hankering to coffee dye fabric again.
Looks like you had better success than I’ve had before. But maybe I used tea??? Anyway – you came up with a great solution to the problem!
Hi Dianna,
I’ve never tried tea dying. I like the look of the way it does for other folks though. I’m glad you liked my solution. Thanks so much.
EC you never cease to amaze me! I would never have thought of using vinegar to set dye!
Hi Pip,
Vinegar was my first choice because I never have alum on hand. Vinegar worked great and after I washed the fabric, the smell went away. Thanks so much.
This is why I like your blog. You have so many little nifty tid bits in bite size chunks. To answer you question I coffee dye all my good shirts all the time. (exceot never on purpose) Sometimes I butter dye them. Im terrible that way, no matter how care full I am, I spill stuff on me.
I think I have owned that exact pattern of cloth. It was in a sheet and very soft.
Hi MM
lol I guess normal folks coffee and tea dye their cloths not realizing that other folks like me need instructions. lol
That’s pretty neat about you having a sheet with that design. That particular fabric isn’t real soft, but it may be if I washed it a few times.
Great easy to follow steps!
I’ve seen references to coffee dyeing in magazines/blogs but nary a word on how to accomplish it! I just hit the Share to Facebook button so my daughter can read/keep your directions for her future homemaking.
Thanks for another fab tutorial!
Hello Shbg
I apologize for missing your comment on this post. I’m sorry for not responding sooner. Thanks for your compliments. I hope you or your daughter will get a chance to try this sometime. Let me know how it goes.
Do you think instant coffee would work for this? I love to quilt and think that coffee dying would be a great way to treat some of the fabric… but alas, I don’t drink coffee and hubby only drinks instant. I don’t even have a coffee maker, so instant is my only way to go at this point. I know my mom has tea-dyed fabric for her primitive raggedy ann dolls, do you know if coffee is darker or lighter than tea dying?
Hello Mainegreengirl
I’m not sure if it would work or not. It’s possible that anything that can stain fabric will work. But you may want to run a search through Google and see what others have to say about it.
Thanks for visiting and leaving me a comment.
Thanks, I’ll do that to see if anyone has experience with it, as I’d hate to ruin a pretty piece of fabric.
You’re welcome for the visit – I’ll be back! I was looking for a place here on your blog to click so that I could “follow” and be updated when you posted, but didn’t see one. Am I overlooking it?
Not sure why my avatar isn’t showing up next to my name.. hmm.
You’re welcome Mgg
I hope you have great luck with dying fabric and your quilt turns out lovely. Quilting is rewarding and gives one such a sense of accomplishment. I enjoy it so much.
I’m not sure about the Avatar either… There’s some buggy things that go on here in WP land. lol
About following my blog: when you’re logged in to ‘WordPress’ in the bar at the top of the page is ‘follow’ , ‘like’ and ‘reblog’ options.
If you just want to follow my blog through a Firefox browser, click ‘bookmark’ and choose ‘subscribe to this page’
I don’t know how to follow anyone through Internet Explorer.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for you help – I got it! I didn’t notice that bar across the top of my page until I got to your blog. I don’t know anything about Internet Explorer either, lol. I see my little canning jar avatar still isn’t showing up, I’m not sure why, must be a little bug running thru WordPress, ha ha. I’ll let you know how this goes when I try it, or when I find out if instant coffee works!
I’d be interested to see if the colour holds up after a lot of washing. The end result look good though!
Hi Kiwidutch
Welcome to my blog.
I haven’t washed my quilt yet, so I don’t know if the color will hold or not. I figure it would probably fade with time if washed too often. I’ve read there’s a few kinds of fabrics like wool or silk that can hold natural stains/dyes for extended lengths of time. I don’t know the particular fibers the fabric I used is, so until I have to clean or wash the quilt, I won’t know for sure how it’ll do.
Thanks for visiting and leaving me a comment.
I hope you’ll come by again sometime.
Hi Kiwidutch
I’ve washed the quilt, the fabric didn’t fade. You’re welcome to read about it on my 1-24-2013 post:
https://enjoyingcreating.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/work-in-progress-an-update-giving-up-an-icy-forecast/
I have not used coffee as a dye, but I have used tea. I love the warm tones of it.
Hi Woodlandwhimsy
Welcome to my blog.
I haven’t tried tea, but I’ve seen some lovely dolls made from tea-dyed fabric.It does give a soft warm tone to the fabric.
Thanks for visiting and leaving me a comment.
I hope you’ll visit again sometime.
The white trim on my bathing suit has turned color probably from tanning lotions. Wanting to dye it but no products are recommended for nylon, so I’m thinking of a natural dye. Perhaps coffee or wine. Any recommendations from you experts?
Hello .marsk
Welcome to my blog.
This coffee dyed quilt block is the extent of my experience.
You’ll need to find someone who’s more skilled in natural dyes to help you.
Thanks for visiting and leaving me a comment.
I wish you the best with your project.
Thank you for sharing this great tip, I love the way your project worked out. I have dyed paper with tea many moons ago, it was a project with the kids for school where we were ageing a letter. If you tear the edges and scrunch it up a bit these areas absorb more of the colour.
Thanks Tgr
I’ve never heard of dying paper. I can think of several fun creations that could be made from it. I’ll give it a try sometime.
Thanks for the fun craft idea.
I have never coffee dyed fabric but have used tea on lace a few times. Turned out great, but did not know about vinegar to set the color. Thanks!
Hi Kathy
Welcome to my blog.
Vinegar worked great for me. I don’t know how well it’d hold up under constant washes, but The one time I washed my quilt, it washed up beautifully.
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving me a comment.
I hope you’ll visit again sometime.