How To Tea Stain Fabric

Sometimes things go a little... unplanned.

I was about to start the pattern we are using for our Pretty Pioneer Apron (which you can find here) when I realized that I had not acquired enough trim. Great.

This is what I get for buying fabric before I found a pattern. 

However, thanks to my pack-rat tendencies, I had enough of a different lace trim in my sewing stash. Only problem was, it was a stark white and what I needed was a nice cream color.

A quick cry for help to my fellow Pretty Pioneers and Heather told me "you could tea stain it!". Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? This is why I love our group.

So here is how I went about tea staining the white lace to create a beautifully antique-looking trim. This will work for just about any cotton fabric, and maybe a few blends.

First, make your tea.

 I used 8 tea bags in about 2 quarts of water. Bring the water to a boil, then remove from heat and add the tea bags. Let steep for about 5 minutes, until you have a nice dark tea.

Pre-wet your fabric in a bowl of water. 

This step is important as it will help your fabric to evenly soak up the tea. Wring out the fabric and then slowly lower it into the tea, making sure to evenly distribute the fabric so it doesn't clump up. Push down with a spoon to fully submerge it.

Set a timer for 5 minutes.

After five minutes, check on your fabric. You can rinse a small corner of it in running water to check the strength of the stain. Mine wasn't quite right, so I left it for another 5 minutes, 10 minutes total. You can go longer if you'd like a deeper stain. Since I was going for cream, 10 minutes was perfect.

Remove from the tea and squeeze out the excess. 

Then pop it in the dryer to set the stain.

Once dry, rinse in running water to remove any excess tea, and then dry again.

You now have a beautifully tea stained piece of fabric, perfect for all of your pioneer sewing projects!

- Meg