softies and tea bag dying

I really need to get on with my next project kris kringle swap... time is getting away from me and I hate leaving things to the last minute! I couldn't believe my luck when I saw this book sitting on the shelf at the library....hop skip jump by Fiona Dalton! It is such a gorgeous little book, with loads of softies to make, patterns and really easy construction instructions! :)

For the swap I'm going to make the sweet little "bird in the hand" and do some screen printing for it too!

:: bird in the hand

I needed to get some linen for this project but I haven't been able to find exactly what I'm looking for... but I remembered I had some heavy-ish white cotton from Ikea in my stash and thought it would be perfect if only it was more off white... then in a light bulb moment in my head... tea bag dying!  I have never done it before but thought it can't be that hard! I looked it up in the Internet and it's actually super easy!

A couple of tea bags in a pot of boiled water and let it steep for a bit and then take tea bags out. Soak the fabric in water before putting into the tea dye pot. Stir the fabric around for a few minutes or longer - depending on how dark you want it. Rinse in cold water and voila!  Apparently different teas will give you slightly different colours too! Too easy... Love it!

:: big pot of brown tea and fabric

I dyed a couple of test pieces first just to check the colour!

:: original colour on the right

I am so happy with the result, it is exactly what I wanted! Now I don't have to go traipsing around the shops! Hooray! You can't really see much of a difference but it is quite a bit more off white!  I can't wait to do some screen printing on it now!

:: the finished piece of fabric - original colour on the right

Hope you are having a great weekend... I'm off to do a spot of screen printing :)