How to Tea or Coffee Stain Fabric

I just purchased two new patterns King Arthur and Guinevere by Nimue. The recommended fabric is 32ct Belfast Linen - Vintage Country Mocha marbled.

 

    

I checked my stash and I had a whole yard of 28 count Cream Cashel Linen. I also had a piece of 28 count Lambswool Jobelan. So I am going to Coffee Stain each of these to create a marbled / burnt / old fashioned look. So I want lots of high and low color changes.

    

I am going to Coffee Stain both the Linen and the Jobelan to show you how different each fabric takes the stain methods.

Supplies Needed...  Toothbrush,  Cake Pan or a Bowl,  Cookie Sheet and Coffee or Tea.

The stitch count for these designs are 207w x 262h so I have cut my fabric to 21 x 25. I could have stained the whole yard of Linen but I wanted each piece to to get cool effects on it so I did cut it before I stained it.

For this staining I will be using coffee, it’s a natural and effective dye. It’s also easy to dye with. When tea or coffee staining you will get better results if you are working with light-colored fabrics.

Step 1: Soak the Fabric in the Coffee or Tea

I poured the coffee into the cake pan then crinkled up my fabric and placed it in and fulling submerging the fabric. Once it’s submerged, I made sure to eliminate any air pockets having all of the fabric were in full contact with the coffee.

    

Step 2: Grind in the coffee grounds into the fabric

I then smeared and ground the coffee grounds into the fabric using the toothbrush. Again I am going for that marbled / burnt / old fashioned look. So I want lots of high and low color changes. One of my favorite things about Tea / Coffee Staining is that everything is kinda a happy accident. Just keep adding to it till you get the stain that you want.

  

Step 3: Soaking

Now I let the fabric soak in the coffee for a couple of hours. The more time you leave it in the coffee, the darker the stain will be.

Step 4: Bake your Fabric.

Next is baking the fabric, yes baking it. I placed my soaking wet fabric on the Cookie Sheet making sure there were high and low points of the fabric along with it still being all scrunched up. This is how the marbling and color changes will happen. I baked the fabric at 250° for about 20 minutes. Then I would pull it out flip it over and bake it for another 20 minutes. One tip I learn is that the wetter the fabric is when you put it in the better marbling effects you will get.

Step 5: Rinse and Repeat

I soaked and baked my fabric 4 different times till I was happy with now dark / burnt and marbled it was. Again I am going for that old fashioned kinda burnt look. After each baking I would rise out my fabric to see what it looked like.

Step 6: Cool Down

Once I knew that it would be the last time I was going to bake the fabric I actually just left it in the oven to cool down. I did this whole process on a Friday and left it on the cookie sheet till Monday.

Step 7: Rinse

I rinsed the cooled down fabric till I was able to get all of the coffee grounds off and the water ran clear. I then laid the fabric out on a towels and let it air dry. Once completely dry I ironed it to get all of the wrinkles out.

Finished Fabric!!!

I am so please with how these turned out and I can not wait to start these projects now that the fabric is done.  I think the difference between how the Jobelan and Cashel Linen stained is amazing!  

Which fabric do you like better the Linen or Jobelan?  Are you going to try this technique on your next project?

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Enjoy & Happy Stitching – Donnett