Coffee Dyed Seam Binding



Back in the early-mid 2000's, I experimented with various naturally-obtained dyes for fabric.  Coffee, I found, was one of the very best.  It even successfully dyes synthetic blends of fabric, in this case, bias tap containing 55% polyester/45% cotton.

In the photos, the tape on the left was just out of the package, and the one on the right was placed in 2 cups of brewed coffee (made with 3 heaping tablespoons) so it was strong, and therefore darker in color, so more strongly pigmented.  I used a common drip coffeemaker with a paper filter.

I soaked the bias tape in the brewed coffee for 1 and a half minutes TOPS.  I left one piece in for 2 minutes and it was slightly darker than I wanted, so less time is better.  You can always re-emerse it for a bit longer if needed.  But beware that it stains very quickly!

I rinsed the bias tape in running tap water and ironed it dry and back into its original shape before using.  As you can see, it matched the cream-color of my fabric perfectly.



left to right: undyed bias tape, same bias tape dyed for 1.5 minutes in hot strong coffee.

        
     

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