Tie-dye Fabric Using All Natural Dye

Tie-dye.

Huuum…….I can’t believe it, but here it is.  I actually made this textile from recycled fabric and turmeric.

That’s right.  Turmeric….the spice that you’d put in your recipes.  And honestly, it was one of the quickest and easiest projects ever.

OK, so have you ever wanted a piece of fabric in a certain color or with a certain pattern and just couldn’t find it anywhere?  This is exactly what happened to me and exactly why I started making textiles using all natural dyes.

So let’s get right to it…….

Tie-dye Step 1:

• Find a piece of fabric that is light in color.  It also helps if the fabric is made of all natural fibers, like cotton, but is not 100% necessary.  I used old drapery liner that was a cotton and poly blend.
• Simply WASH AND RINSE THE FABRIC.
• Make sure the soap is rinsed out and do NOT use a fabric softner.

Tie-dye Step 2:

• Grab the household vinegar, a measuring cup, a big pot, and head over to the stove.

• For my piece of fabric, 7 cups of water and 1 cup of vinegar were added to the pot and brought to a   simmer.
• Then the wet fabric was pushed into the pot.
• If you do this and the liquid doesn’t cover your fabric, add more of this mixture.  
• The key is to make sure the fluid covers the fabric, is very hot, and simmered about 45 minutes. 
• I covered my pot and turned off the heat so the fluid wouldn’t evaporate.
• The pot was left to simmer on the warm burner. 

Tie-dye Step 3:

• Once the fabric is removed from the vinegar soak, rinse it with cold water until there is no trace of vinegar.
• Wring out the excess water, gather the fabric, and tie it with string, rope, or rubber bands.  
• Just make sure that the item used to tie it with won’t leak any kind of dye into the soak.

Tie-dye Step 4:

• Make sure all of the vinegar is rinsed from the pot, then add fresh water.
• I used about 7 or 8 cups of water.
• Add 1/8-1/4 cup of turmeric and simmer about 10 minutes.
• Add the fabric.
• How long the fabric needs to simmer depends on how dark you want the color.
• I left the fabric in the turmeric bath about four hours and kept turning it over during this time.
• Notice how brown and orange the fluid is in the pot compared to the color of the fabric.

Tie-dye Step 5:

• Remove the fabric from the turmeric soak and cut the ties.
• Rinse the fabric under fresh, cold, running water.
• Hang the fabric to dry.  The cloths dryer could be used, but I wanted the wrinkled texture of the fabric to remain. I was also concerned about any dye that might attach itself to the inside of the dyer and ruin other fabrics.

Tie-dye Step 6:

When the fabric is completely dry, it’s time to create some wonderful.  For my first outing, I chose something simple.  

Please remember that natural dyes are less permanent that chemical dyes.  What this means is that natural dyes tend to fade with repeated washing.  So this pillow cover will get few washings.  When the fabric is washed, I will wash by hand, use a mild soap, and dry it on the line.

And, that’s how it’s done.

One tie-dye textile made with all-natural dye.

So when you clean out your pantry….save all of those expired spices.  I surely did and plan to make plenty more textiles. In fact, I have yardage left from this fabric and already have a companion fabric underway.  

 Quick and easy PILLOW COVER tutorial here. 

How my custom pantry was built on wasted wall space here….. 

AND NOW……MORE  ideas from my bloggy friends….