That’s right. I said “beet dyed onesies”.
Weird? Probably. But I didn’t start coloring my baby’s undershirts with food all at once. There was a method to my madness and it all started here when I made these:
Tea dyed onesies.
And I love them. And I started to think if I could dye them with tea maybe I could dye them with other staining foods….like beets. Which coincidentally are delicious to eat when chilled and pickled. And even better when mixed with spinach and peas and blue cheese and where was I? Oh yea…staining clothes.
So I tried the beets. I used the same steps as I did with the tea dying but used beet juice from canned beets instead. (You can find those steps and instructions here )
The outcome looked like this:
I left one onesie in longer than the other and you can tell…I like the darker one better. It came out a nice, dusty, muted, rose color that I really like.
And then of course I added trims and lace and stuff.
I am happy with the results and I’ll feel a lot better about putting my baby Ruth in these redone onesies than the dingy hand-me-downs they started out as.
PS—I’m planning a little experiment with some other foods as well…like tomatoes…I’m hoping for a nice orangy red. But we’ll see. It may be a sad, soggy craft fail.
oh i love this!!! and i love me some pickled beets. i love them on my salads. we will be pickling in the next few weeks, maybe i need to use the juice to dye some clothes too:) hmm, looking in the garden for dye, now thats brilliant:)
I was just about to get rid of a bunch of stained onesies because they’ve already been through 2 girls and I didn’t think my third girl would appreciate having to wear them. Now I have an alternative! I don’t like using dye but I never thought to use beets! Genius.
I’ve never heard of tomato juice working. Onion skins will supposedly give you yellow, though. Beets, tea, ect. have long been used as natural dyes. For that color, you might want to try food coloring… or just go straight to the RIT.
These are so darling! I have some sleeveless onsies I just got for my sister, I was wanting to do something with them, these are great ideas! I am going to use this with my own old onsies sometime too!
The muted rose color is perfect! I have read several articles about natural dyes. I think I have one saved… somewhere. 🙂 I just took a look at Martha Stewarts natural dye suggestions. See link AND be sure to replace (dot) with “.”
For the red you are looking for… maybe cabbage will work? Good luck!
http://theradioblog.marthastewart(dot)com/2011/04/how-to-make-all-natural-easter-egg-dye.html
P.S. I am having so much fun looking around I HAD to Follow! (And, my kids are teens now…. go figure!)
Oh my gosh, Liz…I love how those turned out!!! Hope you and baby Ruth (et al.) are doing well!!!
You might be able to try curry to get a yellow-ish color. It’s not food but close enough.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! You are the best!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! You are the best!
Wow. This comes out such a pretty colour for a little girl.
Love it! but will it just wash out over time? I know for example that tomato stains hung out in the sunshine disappear. I was also recently told that if you wash and hang something out on the line with a food stain at the end of that foods season it will wash out.
Well worth trying anyway with those stunning results 🙂
What about blue or black berries as well. Those have great potent staining properties. Or mustard for the yellow. Lord knows getting out a mustard stain is murder.
Love the experimenting. Who said chemistry wouldn’t come in handy. Maybe I should try some and let you know. 🙂
Jessica
acoupleofcraftaddicts.blogspot.com
*Bratling—Dang! I’m still going to try it though…
*Shelly—Thank you for the link I’m so going to check it out, also cabbage—genuis!
*Trish—I just happen to have a bunch of curry powder and that would be a great color for fall.
*Stephanie—so far so good as far as the color is concerned…but I ave ben washing them in cold…
*Jessica—Mustard is murder! I bet it would totally work and I’m sure berries would give off awesome color. If you try any food dying I want to know how it turns out.
****Thanks again everyone for all your ideas and suggestions. I’m dying (no pun intended) to try some of them out. I’m a total nerd getting all excited about stuff like this.
Red cabbage, brown onions (not a fun smell but a beautiful yellow brown, I wonder if red onions would have a nice result), I’ve tried and they work. I’ve heard tummeric makes a lovely yellow. It seems like they are all nice fall colors, so perfect timing. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Beets will give you that pretty rosey pink, red cabbage will be rather a purpley tone. coffee & tee do a soft antique tone. Yellow onions will give a soft egg yellow, use tumeric for YELLOW, that’s what causes the stain when you get mustard on your fav top. Try spinach for greens. Berries will stain but will fade to a muddy tone if you don’t set it.
Suggest setting the colors in a white vinegar bath to slow the fading.
Check out sites for doing natural egg & wool dyes, great for inspiration.
~C8>
Could this have come at a better time? I was wondering how to dye onesies. AND looking for a brown color. And this?!?! Off to pin and check out your tea post. Stopping by from Fingerprints on the Fridge.
Tomatoes might not work, but what about tomato juice or spaghetti sauce?