Before chemical fabric dyes came into existence, natural substances such as fruits and vegetables were used to dye fabric. I have been meaning to try out a natural dye technique for a while and finally did it this week. I am happy to report that it was a success and SO simple!

Pretty much any dark colored fruit or vegetable can be used for this how-to. Some options are: red cabbage {pink}, blueberries {purple}, blackberries {darker pink/purple}, tea or coffee {beige}, turmeric or saffron {yellow}, grape juice, and many more.

What you will need:

• Fabric items to dye – These items must be made from a natural source, such as 100% cotton. I used a tote bag, a few old napkins, and a few small cotton drawstring bags {all of which I already had laying around my house}.
• ¾ cup salt – I used plain kosher salt.
• Fruit and/or veggies – I chose blackberries {dark pink/purple}, tea {beige}, and turmeric {golden yellow}.
• A large pot
• A colander
• Lots of water

Step One:

Mix ¾ cup salt with 12 cups of water. Submerge your fabric in the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let the fabric simmer for about an hour.

Remove the fabric from the salt water and rinse with cold water. Ring out the items and set aside.

Note: if you are planning to dye a lot of items, you might need to do this step a few extra times. Or use a really, really big pot and double the amount of salt and water.

Step Two:

If you are using berries, put a cup in a pot with four cups of water and boil for about 15 minutes. Strain the fruit from the water and discard. Set the water aside to cool.

I also used turmeric and black tea. For the turmeric, I mixed two tablespoons with four cups of boiling water. For the tea, I let several bags of black tea sit in four cups of boiling water for about 5 minutes.

Step Three:

Dye your fabric. I wanted a dip-dyed look for my cotton bags so I carefully set the end in the dye and draped the top {un-dyed part} over the side of the bowl. I let my items sit in the dye for about 10 minutes.

For my napkins, I decided to completely submerge them in the tea dye and let them sit for about 10 minutes.

Step Four:

Rinse your fabric with hot tap water, ring out, and hang to dry.

That’s it! This process can be done with any cotton or other natural fiber fabrics. Just be careful when/if you need to wash your items as they might bleed the first time.