Tea Staining & The Tea Party favors have arrived…

Packing up a teeny tiny friend is what I was doing with my morning.  Sad to see him go, but knowing that where he is going to live is a place many of us would love to just tip-toe through for 30 seconds…I can not say where, no no, I must not give it away, not today.  Although, there might be an apple or two, and a curious girl, in a curious dress, of a shade I will never tell.

                   

And seeing as how I am channeling my Jane Austen side… I decided it would not be appropriate for my little friend to go away, and not take with him, a piece of lace.  You know – "Oh do bring me some ribbons or a lovely piece of lace if you go into town my darling dear."  But white lace?  Not working for me, at all… That is when the tea staining started…

So, here we go, a look at my tea staining ways. I am not responsible for accuracy, boiling water burns or anything else you might put yourself through during this process.  I am simply showing you what I did to a few pieces of lace and scraps this morning and the process I use to stain fabrics. 😉 (warning, no matter how much I try to condense, this is still a panifully long post, I'm trying for the future, I promise)

          

1st, I choose my tea, I find that the richer color comes from an English or an Irish tea, they are stronger teas and just because I am nutzz, I like them to have caffeine.  Just buy a big package at the market, I like Bigelow or Twinings.  I always keep some Orange spice tea around  for a hint of that rich tone that the auburn shade gives.  I choose a big pasta cooking pot and fill it 3/4 of the way with water.  I then take about 10 packages of the tea I have chosen, Irish or English, or a mixture of both, and three of the orange spice.  (Start heating the water because it must be boiling before you put in the tea)  I like to keep some white string around for wrapping and for cooking and it comes in handy in this case.  You will cut about a foot and a half of string and have it ready to tie your tea bags together…Unwrap all your teas, line them up by their tags and tie the string just below where all the tags meet, this makes a place where you can make a sturdy knot, but make sure to keep your string long on one side, so that you can hold onto the tea bags when you dip them…You'll see…here we go…

            

            

Now, do not put your tea bags in the water until it is boiling, the top right pic is just to show you how you will handle the tea bags with the string.  As soon as the water comes to a roaring boil start to dip your tea bags in and quickly shut off the heat.  Then just gently bob the tea up and down a bit, just to get the mixture swirling. Then place your bundle to the side, and use the long piece of string as an anchor, tie-ing it around the pot handle, it holds the bundle in place.

          

          

         

 

I like to take a spoon, wooden is good because it will not get hot, and gently squeeze the tea-bags against the side of the pot.  Then I leave my mixture alone for, at the very least, 10 minutes.  I then take a few pieces of fabric and drop them in.  I like to leave them in for extended periods because I like a dark color.  Some pieces are sitting in there while I write this entire post.  You can rinse the fabric with cold water once you take it out, in order to set the color. I myself do not always do this.  The only time I was very diligent about rinsing was when  I was staining a white top – I stained it for 30 minutes. Then I took it out rinsed with cold water and hung dry.  But, when I am dealing with crafty fabrics  I really like to have a dark sepia tint.  It is a more time transporting color to me. 

                

You will have to experiment.  Do a few testers by cutting pieces of white muslin or cotton based fabric and leave them in for different periods of time(natural fabrics are easier to stain, once you get into nylons, lycras etc.  it gets very tricky, but you never know unless you try).  You would think that I could be more specific about what fabrics to use and not to use with all those University Textile Science classes(how did I get a degree again?)…My brain cells are diminishing, be nice to me.

       

         

         

You can check on your color by taking out a bit of the tea with a measuring cup and putting it into a white bottom tea cup…Or you can just throw in a piece of string or fabric and see what is goin' on…Also, if you were a very organized person, I am not. I will never do this. But, you could also make your mixture, let it get to a certain color, remove the tea, time the minutes you left the tea in, write this down. Take note of how many tea bags and types you used, and then drop in a small fabric or string,  time how long you leave that in, write that down, and voila, you have a test peice with a recipe of how you got there.  Just write down all of your steps if you are so inclined to.

                         

Another fun way to tea-stain, which I did on the following piece.  Is to fill a spray bottle with your mixture once it cools just a bit.  Then take your fabric outside and spray it to your desired color.  I did this with this doll dress because I sewed it to the body before I realized I hated it, it needed something.  So, I went outsdie and sprayed it down. I love the varied tints of tea stain.  You can see how it darkened, I put a piece of unstained scraps to the left so you can see the before and after. Now I love it.

                   

The color below was achieved about ten minutes into the process.  I am going to wait about 45 minutes.  I am looking for an old dark color.  The lace had a peachish tint, which should turn very lovely in the tea bath.  When I am certain I like the color, I will take them out, give them a teeny cold rinse so that I do not drip tea water all the way to the door.  Then I will hang them outside and wait for them to dry.  You can put them in the dryer if you rinse well…Just really be careful not to over-rinse and lose all of your color.  If you are certain you do not want to rinse, take some pot holders and just take the whole pot outside and remove the fabrics from the pot outside. That makes everything easier.  Wait for the pot to cool a bit! Do not burn yourself!!

                  

                  

The muslin ( on the right) took the color very very well.  Better than the string actually.  I am very pleased with this tea bath.  The color is lovely.  I think I will leave these pieces in for a few hours… just let them swim around…Since they are not crucial and I am not ready to deal with them today, just yet…I still even have my tea bags in there, anchored to the side…And that is all I have to say about Tea-staining, please ask if you have questions.

So, on a very very fun note, Risa, who is totally amazing, sent out her party favors.  I can not describe the scent I found when I opened the package…It was like Lemon and lavender, but very fresh and natural.  There were these little packages, oh so fun to open.  I was like a little girl, savoring every moment to pieces.  And the little people!!! They fit right in with Mr. Lovee's friends…They are hanging around in total bliss!!! And the pig, and and and….Thank you Risa! You are a delightful caring girl.  Wait til you get your package…. hee, heee…You will LOVE IT!!!!!Anyday soon…Not as soon as I had promised but you will see it there in a few days.

         

         

                 

And last, but not least…Thank You to Lisa-Gabrielle of the Jungle Dream Pagoda, for caring enough to ask me and a few others, to answer a question I am seeing answered much around this blogging city…And, I am enjoying reading about it!  Especially AshelyG's  squishy eye!!Holy Toledo Bandido!!!

ok. 6 bizarre things about me, they are more like 6 OCD things about me.  This is very hard because all you people are so much more interesting than me:

1)  I always lock my bedroom door up obsessively and make Cinderella check it like 100 times to make sure it is locked when I am not there. Even though the only one who could ever get into our fortressed alarmed gated tucked locked, double locked, bolted house is Cinderella herself and she can break into my room with a simple thin mailer postcard.  ????

2)  I tend to think I am 5.  And, I tend to get into heated arguments and get all sad with other 5 year olds.  And, I also have choreographed dances that I share with specific 5 year olds.  When they greet me, they position their little hands in the first dance step and we say "remember, remember" and we break into dance…A lot of Thai type moves…Who knows why???

3) noone, noone ever can touch my magazine before I look at it.  EVER.  Any magazine! if they do, it is tainted and I can't read it.  Sorry. i'm psycho.  Unless it is used, and then it doesn't matter at all.

4)  Mr. Lovee DETESTS this one.  I will not drink anything out of a cup if it is not rinsed twice before my drink is poured in.  Not even if it is on the freshly washed drying rack, not even if it is in the cupboard.  My throat locks up and I can not swallow. Some nights, when Mr. Lovee drops a glass of water by my private bedroom, I won't drink it because I don't trust him.   I am totally parched in the middle of the night, and there is a cup of water by my bed. But, I refuse to drink. Now if I was in trouble and had no choice, I would drink such water. But not like this, not now, no option.

5) I own more "stuff" than anyone you will ever meet.  I will not sell. I will not share, some of it at least.  I treasure it, I think it has a soul. I think it thanks me for saving it. Much is in perfectly packed giant plastic containers. Even 236 pairs of shoes are packed.  Don't ask, don't criticize. It is my problem.  There has been a huge red typrwriter in my car for 6 weeks.  C'est la Vie.

6) I use a roll of toilet paper every day.  I don't how, I don't know why?  I use it for other things.. Like, wiping up little water splashes.. and blowng my nose, and rubbing streaks off of things.  ??? Not just on my toosh!!!! That is what I am misunderstood about. 

ps:  oh, I can perfectly lift my foot to my face and look around and pedicure it up close, although I usually have it done professionally, for relaxation purposes!!

Okay Okay, it is finally over. the longest post ever.