Sunday, May 12, 2013

Question about Tea Staining Lace and My April CQJP 2013...finally!

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mother's out there!  We will be having our two mothers and our daughter with her family here for dinner later this afternoon.  Our son and his wife will be leaving for a trip to Italy shortly.  It will be their first trip to Europe and I am very excited and happy for them...and a little jealous~lol.

I have actually had these blocks for April completed for awhile but haven't had a chance to get them photographed, set up and converted to JPEGs.  I am enjoying this journey so much.  It has been a real challenge to come up with new stitch variations/combos but somehow I have been able to so far.  I thought I might be bored creating such similar blocks, but I am actually getting hooked on them.  I may have to eventually experiment with color variations for something different...maybe.  


Now, I have a question for those who dye fibers/fabrics...

I have been trying to finish up my CQJP for 2012, but have had issues with finding the right lace to go around the blocks.  I originally had my lace picked out but didn't buy it because I wanted to wait until my blocks were completed.  Of course, the store quit carrying said lace and I wasn't able to find it anywhere.  I finally found some similar but only in white but 100% cotton.  I tried to tea stain it yesterday along with a couple of doilies.  You guessed it.  I ended up with three different shade variations.  A doily came out exactly the color I wanted, but the lace trim came out too gray rather than a warm ecru.  

My question:  Do any of you know of a product for tea staining cotton to a warmer shade or know how I can fix my lace?



7 comments:

Mary Ann Tate said...

I'm afraid I have no advice as I've been having issues too. Hopefully someone has an answer for us both:)

margaret said...

good set of blocks here, your stitching is beautifully done.
Sorry can not help with the tea staining but hope you get advice as looking forward to seeing your 2012 completed.

Shawkl said...

If it's too dark, try putting it into a weak bleach solution to get out the tea.

I prefer to use Rit dye than tea for my staining. It comes in ecru.

For folk art dolls, I sometimes dye with coffee. However, like tea...once washed it all goes away.
Hugs,
Kathy

Octogen-Brian said...

I love your stitching, beautifully done.
Here in South Africa we have a tea made from a local bush called 'rooibos' which translates as 'red tea'. It has an interesting dye effect.
I would try and dye the lace again in a new solution of tea, without anything else in the bowl.

kind regards Fay Cape Town South Africa

Unknown said...

I love your blocks too. Had you thought of using coffee? I daresay you could try different strenghts.
Joy...NZ

Anita said...

Your blocks looks beautiful Connie.I like the feather/chevron combo....Sorry, I can't help you with tea staining hope someone has helped you...

Suztats said...

Hi Connie! i wondered why I hadn't read any of your posts lately, and obviously when I imported 'all' of my faves, yours was missed! I've been playing catch-up.
You might try using a cherry, berry or orange based herb tea to warm up the shade of the tea-dyed lace. You could also try a watercolour or acrylic wash, too.