Tea dyed tops

I hardly wear any white tops, since I'm a messy eater and planning what to eat when I'm wearing white is so much hassles. My white lace spaghetti strap top & white boho top (both are thrifted) have stained on it, some are unexplainable, I don't know how it got there, but after multiple washing, the stain is still there.



I'm thinking of getting rid of it, but then I saw this tea dyed DIY from Spell Byron Bay Instagram story and I couldn't resist the idea of giving my stained white tops another life. So I began my projects the next morning.



Since I like to drink tea, I have some earl grey tea that I still need to finish before the expiry date.

I used around 8 tea bags for this project, add them to the boiling water and let them simmer for 5 mins. I added few tsp of salt to help set the dye.

Then remove the tea bags, put my pre dampen tops in the pot, submerged completely.






I let the water to simmer for 15 mins and then leave it for another 30 mins to cool down.

Then I rinse it with tap water. The colour turns immediately into different shades of brownish colour.



Lastly, remove the water and then hang it to dry. Since it was really sunny that day. My tops dried in no time and it have that tea smell that I really like. ☕️



The contrast of colour makes the beautiful lace details stand out even more. Previously it was just layers and layers of white fabrics, hence it was quite hard to see the lace details from afar.

The lace turns out lighter or remain white (I couldn't tell the difference), it may be due to the fact that it have polyester blend in it. Different types of fabric have different absorbing rate, but man made fabric usually didn't do quite well with natural dyes.



This top turns out to be prettier than I thought and I like that the colour gives out more bohemian vibes to it. The stained are still there, but it blends well with the tea colours and you can hardly see the stains anymore. 🤗

Overall this DIY projects is easy and I think that everyone should try it. Tried giving it another life before throwing out your stained white tops.

I prefer to use natural dyes, like coffee, tumeric, tea or any other vegetable dyes, since it have less impact on our environment and much safer for me. #savetheearth

I've tried it using synthetic dyed before (5 years ago during Uni for my final projects), so this is my second time doing projects like this and I really like the ideas of making your own colour. Maybe I should try avocado next?

Read this before you start your own projects and for more vegetable dye ideas. Thank you Spell & the Gypsy for the amazing tips!