Natural Dying and the Bohemian Peasant Dress, P1

I have been on a long flowing bohemian kick. Last week I thought I would give natural dying a try to add more knowledge of textiles to my tool box. Boy did I learn a lot!

A more successful part of this endeavor was the 1970s pattern for my Dayton Dressmakers Club Meet Up’s pattern swap.

My idea was to buy our white Cotton and Steel double gauze and make a romantic light pink peasant dress with cream color lace on its borders. It’s a good thing I go with the flow and if it doesn’t turn out the way I think it will I do not get upset or give up.

I referred to the internet for help on natural dye to learn what food and veggies will turn fabric different colors and how the process works. I saw that if you want pink you should use cherries or strawberries. Throwing some beets in would surely stain my fabric too, right?

I learned I needed to prime my fabric to get it ready to soak up the dye by soaking it for an hour in vinegar or salt. I chose to use salt for my first try.

I went to my grocery store and picked out beets and black cherry juice concentrate for my first experiment.

After soaking my fabric in the priming solution of salt I gave the fabric a good spin in the washer. I think I should have used vinegar.

Next, I juiced the beets and put the pulp in cheese cloth. I took all of that and boiled my fabric in the solution for 1 hour. This was my first mistake. My first attempt was a light tan.

My second attempt turned out much better. I soaked it overnight.

After making my dress, I sewed two rows of black Venice lace together to give this peasant dress a Game of Thrones look.

Here is my finished dress!!

I find it so interesting my dress turned out beige. Learning something new is always so much fun.

Please join me next week for part two using turmeric. I am making a Viking apron dress.

Behind the scenes~

New virtual online classes! They all run for one week and $10-$15.

T-Shirt Skirt VIRTUAL CLASS

T-Shirt Redo VIRTUAL CLASS

Upcycled Garments VIRTUAL CLASS

I’m wrapping up personal projects, before returning to work July 6th. My friend from Australia, Samantha, owner of Riley Street Photography gifted me this beautiful vintage fabric. I paired it with Australian patterns by Style Arc.

Thank you so much Sam!

Thank you for reading!

Tracy Mcelfresh

Dream it! Sew it!

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Tracy McElfresh

Owner at Tracy's Sewing Studio

Tracy McElfresh is an alterations and fit specialist, Kettering Arts Council member, and Kettering resident. Tracy has a skillset built from multigenerational roots in the sewing and garment industries. Operating out of a studio located inside Rosewood Art Centre she provides alterations, garment design (including a strong passion for swimwear), formal and casual dressmaking, and sewing classes. Tracy founded a meetup group in 2014 called the Dayton Garment Designers Meet Up that is open to all newcomers at any skill level. In her free time, she is an avid writer and blogger and was a recognized award winner in 2018 as having one of the Best Dressmaker Blogs on the Planet from Blogspot. You can follow her work on Facebook and Instagram at TracySews.

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