Natural Dye

All my crafting and thrifting has left me wanting to dye some clothes. But I really wanted to use something less toxic than the normal Rit Dye. So I've been reading about natural dyes and wow there are so many possiblility out there. I've always done the coffee and tea staining and I've heard of Kool Aid dyeing (which really makes me feel that Kool Aid should only be in Family Guy and not in anyone's tummy).

So I found a new (Nordstorm tag still attached) Seven For All Mankind tunic shirt at a local thrift shop. It is long enough to wear with leggings, but its white and kinda makes me think of a doctor's coat. Hence, the dye job. So to spice this shirt up I decided cumin would do the trick.Cumin is known to dye cloth (my shirt is 100% cotton) a bright yellow.

Here are the steps I took after reading a few websites:

First:  I used a whole jar of ground store brand cumin and put it into boiling water. A two parts water to one part spices/ plant matter is the recommended percentage. Once it is boiling turn it down to simmer for 1 hour. While doing that I put my shirt in to a fixative bath. Fixative baths help the dye permeate the fabric. In a separate pot I put 4 parts water 1 part vinegar and added my shirt. This needs to heat and simmer for one hour. (once done it will need to cool some before you can wring out the excess water.  I also added about a 1/4 cup salt in with my dye to help the dye hold. I've always added salt in with my Rit dyes to help the color hold.

To finish making the dye I strained it through a tea strainer to get out all the spice grains (or as much as I could). Just be aware if you do not want to strain the dye you might get patterns on your fabric from the bits.I saved the cumin to dry and reuse but I don't know it will work well a second time or not.

Fixative FYI:
I read that vinegar fixatives are better for plant dyes. Use 4 parts water to 1 part vinegar, I used cheap store brand white vinegar.
Salt fixatives are good for berry dyes 1/2 cup salt to 8 cups water.

After rinsing out the shirt in cool water and  wringing out the excess water I put the shirt into the hot dye bath. Now I let the shirt simmer for a least an hour and then I let it sit in the dye overnight. I've done this with Rit dyes to make sure the color really soaks into the fabric.

The next step was simple rinse, wash off, dry and enjoy:)


Personally I found it easy to do this while making dinner and cleaning up in the kitchen. That way I could stir the dye bath the move the shirt around with some long handled tongs. (I use silicone covered tongs so the pot is safe from being scratched and the shirt will not get snagged.)

P.S. my camera battery needs charged so pictures will be up late:(