More preparations for our tea party including a dyeing fabric tutorial.

We are still very excited about our tea party. It's the first time we've done a summer party that is open to all and I think it fits our tagline perfectly - so we hope you will come along and Make Friends!

We want it to be fun, so this week, in honour of it being Create UK week I have been dyeing fabric and gathering supplies.

This is the first time I have dyed fabric so I thought I'd share a quick tutorial too.

First, gather your supplies. You will need; fabric, fabric dye (I used Dylon in Flamingo Pink), a spoon, dyeing salt, a measuring jug, at least two large tubs and water.

That's it really. Some rubber gloves would be good (as I didn't have any, I took all my rings off and put my hands in some plastic bags. Yep, seriously. Although I looked a bit daft, it worked!).

Then, follow the instructions on the pack. I filled one of my large tubs with 6 litres of warm water and mixed in 250g of salt with a spoon. I mixed the dye with 500ml of warm water in my measuring jug and then poured it into the tub filled with water and salt mix. I dipped my fabric in my other tub and covered it with cold water and then squeezed it out and put it into the tub filled with dye.

 

 

I stirred it for a few minutes and then left it to sit for about 45 minutes. It said an hour, but I like instant gratification and am impatient! I used a bamboo garden cane for the stirring.

 

 

While that was sitting I gathered some supplies for the tea party. I know it's a while off yet, 12th July, but I wanted to be organised. 

 

Teapots, obviously fairly important and we need to get a few more of these. Trays and teacups.

 

Oh how I love my Bamboo 1970's coffee pot.

 

You can never have too many patterned plates and cups. Mix + match is totally the best way too, right?

 

Few bits of decorations for the table. Don't worry, more to come.

 

 

And then, look at the pretty tea bags. They inspired me colour wise! Making a mental note to find some paper plates and bowls that are very bright...

 

And then, I went back to my table cloths. (Which, btw, I picked up from our local charity shop for £1 for both. Total bargain. Happy.)

 

I got them out of the dye bucket and rinsed them in the cold water. Then I put them in the washing machine, just on a delicate cycle and then hung them up to dry. The whole process took around 3 hours in total, but I was only really doing stuff for around 20 minutes. Not bad.

 

And here they are... My first dyeing attempt.

 

 

 

I know this picture isn't great but some lovely details appeared after dyeing that you simply couldn't see before. I love this!

 

The embroidery came out particularly well.

 

Oh so pretty.

 

The colour isn't perfect, it's quite mottled in places. But I like it, it looks homemade and that's fine by me. I think it's probably from doing 2 cloths at once and from not stirring enough.

 

 

They will have pride of place at the party and will look great adorned with saucers and cake crumbs!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading,

 

 

Kirsty