Tea Dyed Curtains

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Blogging on a Monday......I feel like I haven't done this in FOREVER! Well I think I've finally gotten out of my little funk and I have the motivation to show you what all I've been working on. Hooray!

Today we are going to talk curtains. My living room curtains to be exact. If you remember, or if you are new here, let me refresh you with what curtains I made last winter.....

In December I had just painted my living room white with an orange accent wall and an orange alcove around my bay window. Then I got the idea to paint ombre striped curtains for the window. It didn't turn out the way I wanted but the hubs wouldn't let me take them down because I had "worked so hard on them". Whatevs. I've pretty much hated them all along. Here's what they looked like....

Ok, not the worst in the world, but they haven't grown on me. They now reside in my fabric closet with other fallen projects.

To replace them I thought something simple would be better. Something crisp and clean. I thought about plain white, but with the white walls around that little alcove and all the trim being white I just couldn't go ALL white. I needed a little contrast. So I tried something new that I haven't done before and I dig it. Tea dyeing! Here's how the window looks now...

You'll see better pics in a sec. They didn't turn out quite as long as I wanted because I hemmed about an inch too much, but seriously, once you've done all the work, who would change it? Not this chick! Besides I have a pair of chairs that sit in front of that window that I moved for these pictures.

So, how do you tea dye? It's pretty simple, so if you don't already know I'll give you a quick run down of what I did.

I started with a bedsheet from Kmart. They're cheap and big and the sides are already hemmed {bonus!}. I think I used a queen sheet for this window.

Now on the the dyeing....

Step 1: Boil water in a large pot {This is about all I can do in the kitchen btw lol}
Step 2: Add about 20 tea bags

Step 3:  Let the bags stoop for about 20 minutes
Step 4:  Remove bags, well, the ones that didn't fall in
Step 5:  Put whatever fabric, or portion of fabric, you want into the pot
Step 6:  Let it sit for, I don't know, about 20 minutes

Step 7: Remove sheet from pot and let air dry

I don't really have that many crazy weeds in my yard. I did in this picture, but things have changed in that area recently, so don't judge.


After the sheet dried, I cut it in half and hemmed the cut edge. Then I had to hem a little in length. I hemmed it on the top end so there was a little extra fabric at the top for my hooks to hold on to. Give the whole thing some ironing and that's it!

Whatcha think? Oh and go back at look at the old picture again......notice anything else different? The wall color maybe? I just wasn't loving the first orange color I painted, so I changed it up. This new orange is a little darker and not so "don't shoot me in the woods" orange.

And just for fun.....

I seriously can NOT get over how stinkin cute she is!!! She melts my heart every day. I <3 her