The Sew Weekly Sewing Circle

Hey there everyone... As I was working on my jedi outfit on lovely shades of beige and natural colors, I thought that I should dye my coat/cloak in brown to be more jedi like. The "Sew Weekly girls" that you are told me not to, and I'm not.

But still... I was wondering : "hey! I'm broke and I want to dye something to make it look cool, so everyone envy me!" (Haha! Yes, we seamstresses are b**ches right? XD ) Then I thought of natural dyeing. Easy and if you can do it with something growing in your backyard, then it's better than cheap : it's free!

 

I've already dyed cotton with woad, and it's fabulous!!! It makes wonderful blue!!! I wanted to try the onion skin dye which should give an orange-brown tint, but haven't yet...

So, I wanted to know : Have you tried natural dyeing? Which one? Any advice? Any tips on what plant to use for a brown dye? (oh so many questions right!!!)

 

Thank you for sharing! ♥

 

(me dyeing lace with woad)

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I haven't dyed anything but you are inspiring me to try, the woad is amazing.

 

I am glad you decided to leave your jedi dress natural, it is beautiful

fantastic!

I know beetroot is good if you have it in your garden. To be honest I haven't applied this to fabric but I'm really into the idea.

I have used tea for dying things brown... not sure how dark you can get it to go though. Maybe stronger tea.. darker brown?
yes I forgot to mention that. I've already used tea but I only had very light beige with a pink tint. And my tea was a strong one. So, for profond browns... not sure...! :) Haha! If you had brown with yours, please tell me what tea you used because it makes a difference! I used black fermented tea, but I'm afraid the quality wasn't so good.

 

just found this for you - great list of plants and the colours you can get from them.

 

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/crafts/crafts-basics/naturaldyes.html

 

 (As for the tea... I'd say I got a light brown - and I think it was just a box of bushells black tea leaves - very Aussie... but nothing special.)

OH thank you! Great link! ;) I may try walnut, it's the season here! :)

Oooh consider me inspired! Although I did read yours wrong and was thinking you got that fabulous blue from wood... oops.

For brown I was going to suggest coffee, Off to the kitchen with some lace and beetroot for me.

Good idea Kirsty but woopsie! I don't drink any coffee so... I don't have any! ^^' But I'll definitely try that too one day!!!
Just curious - how well does the dyed fabric hold it's color in future washes?  Is there a way to 'set' it?

Well, it depends on what dye you used. Woad dye holds very very well, tea dye too. Some tend to fade with many washing. Generally you use vinegar to prepare your textile before you dye it, that's the way you 'set' it. Go check Casey Sew's link, it explains many things.

I've heard that beetroot holds very well too, but I haven't tried yet. I remember reading someting on the internet about how well this or that dye could hold. I'll try to find it and post it here.

Thanks for the response! I'll definitely look into this - especially as I love the MTL from yesterday with the various shades of green and lace.

Ah good to know, I had wondered the same about color washing out.

 

Thanks for the inspirations, it is something I have been thinking about for awhile.

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