hand dyed fabric

My first try at hand-dying fabric. I used Vonna's "bake and baste" tea and coffee method, found here

I'm really pleased with the results. The first, I wadded up and soaked and stirred, and then mostly spread out on the cookie sheet, baked for 15 minutes, rearranged and baked for 15 more minutes. It was basically dry. I ironed it, and love the results. This one has a very stiff feel to it.

The second one, I gently placed in the pot, and allowed the coffee/tea mixture to seep up, for a long time. Then I wadded and stirred. This one I "basted", although I couldn't find my turkey baster and had to use a ladle! What would I do if I were making turkey? The first 15 minutes I left it in a very small clump, then dribbled some of the mixture on it and spread it out more. It was in the oven a total of 45 minutes, spread out completely flat for the last 5. It was still slightly damp when it came out, and believe it or not, it's actually darker than the first one. Ah, the wonders of taking pictures in slightly different conditions. The texture is much softer, too.

These were both white Charles Craft 22-count "Hardanger Fabric" - fresh out of the package, 12x18 cuts. They did shrink a little - they are now 11x17.75.

This was such a fun project, and my house smells good! It's so easy, and it's kind of addicting! I want to do a lot more, but I'm out of plain fabric!