NATURAL FABRIC DYE WITH AVOCADOS – Blush Pink Linen Top

NATURAL FABRIC DYE WITH AVOCADOS

Blush pink linen top – magic using an avocado pit!

It is no news that at Le cafe de maman we love to use linen and other natural fibres such as cotton! You can see it all over our crative blog and SHOP! It is also no news that we love natural dye techniques, have you tried the Easter Egg natural dye DIY project?

Inspired by the beautiful book Botanical Colour at Your Fingertips by Rebecca Desnos, and by the Grainline Studio avocado dyeing project, I decided to try create the perfect soft sunset blush pink tank top. The uneven colour blend makes the outfit look like a soft and fluffy evening sky, literally.

Off white linen fabric was then a great choice because just like cotton, linen is a natural plant-based fibre. These types of fabric are usually the best for natural dyeing because they absorb the colour well. Synthetic fibres are not a good choice for natural dyeing because the fibre is too resistant. However, there are other natural types of fabric such as wool and silk which are animal-based. Wool and silk yarn is also a wonderful material to use for natural dye techniques!

Natural fabric dyeing is incredibly easy and you can try not only different amount of avocados and lengths of simmering time, but also completely different natural ingredients from spices (turmeric) to herbs (lavender, rosemary) to achieve a variety of shades! For this project we will stick with avocados.

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Gorgeous avocado dye blush pink linen tank top

You will need:

• white/ivory linen piece of fabric (You can use either a piece of fabric, handmade piece of clothing or a piece that you’ve previously washed and worn. Just be mindful, that once the linen is simmering in very hot water it will shrink a bit. For this project I made a new square neckline linen top.  I considered the shrinkage, making the pattern slightly bigger to make sure it still fits after the fabric dye project.)
• two avocados, ideally with more brown than green skin (you will need both pits and a piece of the brown-purpleish peel)
• large cooking pot filled with water, old wooden spoon (some guides say that water acidity matters, you may want to use destilled or filtered water. For me the tap water worked just fine)

Enjoying this creative project? Pin it for later to one of your Natural Dyeing, Sewing or Creative DIY Crafts Pinterest boards!

Instructions:

1. Soak the linen fabric (or cotton, or any piece you chose to use for the fabric dye project) in water over night. This way the water will get thoroughly into the fabric and encourage more even colour absorption once you simmer the fabric.
2. Cut the avocados in half, taking out both pits and removing all flesh. Peel one of the halfs and wash the skin.
3. Put the skin into a pot filled with clean water, add both avocado pits cut in half.
4. Place on the cooker and bring to boil, simmering for about an hour. The brownighs pink colour will begin to form in the water as you simmer.
5. Add your fabric to the pot, push it all under the water and continue to simmer for another two to three hours. The colour intensity will depend on how long you simmer the fabric. Turn the fabric around from time to time to make sure that all parts are evenly soaked in the pink water and that no part is sticking above the water. This is important for encouraging the fabric dye to spread as evenly as possible. Wet fabric is always slightly darker than it will be once it is dry.
6. When you’re satisfied with the colour shade, remove the pot from the heat, place it into the bath. Let it set for a moment, until the water has coolled down to a reasonable temperature.
7. Rinse the fabric under running cold water and squeeze out any excess fabric dye.
8. Dry the fabric on air and you are done!

The linen felt slightly harder after the fabric dye bath so to soften it I soaked it again, this time in water with baking soda. Normally, I don’t use chemically treated linen and just give the fabric time to soften with regular use and washes. But I also discovered a natural way how to speed up this process, without suppressing the quality of the fibre.

Now – onto the avocado recipes! Scroll down to find two healthy ideas on how to use the leftover avocado meat!

Enjoying this creative project? Pin it for later to one of your Natural Dyeing, Sewing or Creative DIY Crafts Pinterest boards!

Healthy avocado recipes – use up the leftover meat!

Avocado and Egg breakfast & Avocado Salad with Sunflower Seeds

Easy, healthy, delicious! Two of my most favourite recipes, one for the morning and one as a light lunch or dinner!

Avocado and Egg breakfast

You’ll need:

• wholegrain toast bread
• two eggs
• one avocado flesh
• olive oil
• salt
• greens for decoration

Instructions:

Boil two eggs in salty water for 5 minutes (salt helps the egg stay inside if the shell cracks whilst boiling) and peel she shell off. Cut both eggs and the avocado flesh on thick slices and place on top of toasted brown bread. Sprinkle with washed greens, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

And that’s it! Simple, tasty and nutritious breakfast to get you going for the day!

Avocado Salad with Sunflower Seeds

You’ll need:

• 50g of feta cheese
• five cherry tomatoes
• one avocado flesh
• one large carrot
• two handfuls of rocket salad leaves and baby spinach
• two table spoons of sunflower seeds
• high quality extra virgin olive oil (I brought mine from holiday in Crete and it’s be best I’ve tasted EVER!)
• salt
• balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

Wash the greens thoroughly and place in medium size salad bowl. Cut the avocado to large pieces and the cherry tomatoes in half, add to the greens. Grate the carrot roughly and add to the mixture as well, sprinkle with sunflower seeds and feta cheese broken to pieces by hand. Lastly, drizzle generously with olive oil, add one tea spoon of balsamic vinegar and two pinches of salt.

What I LOVE about this recipe is that it is so versatile! It can be served with meat, as vegetarian or even vegan option! I use this recipe as a foundation for my lunches, adding other foods to make it filling.

You can try alternatives and replace the feta cheese with: fried diced chicken, grilled salmon, tinned salmon, grilled zucchini, boiled eggs and also couscous! Sunflower seeds can be alternated with sliced peeled almonds and ready salad served with your favourite fresh bakery!