I was at quilt show and heard a lady say that a quilt would look better if it was antiqued. I asked a friend what that meant, she said some people tea wash a quilt to make it look antique. How do you do this, do you do it when you prewash the fabric, or when your top is done or after you have layered and quilted ? Also is there a mix or do you actually make a tea mixture? Do you use the bath tub or washing machine?

There is a mix you can use.....but you can also do it yourself...If I knew ahead of time I wanted to tone down my fabrics that were going in a quilt, I would definitely do it before the quilt was made. I think you would have to wash the fabric first to remove sizing, etc.
I have never done a whole quilt that way, but if you google tea dye I'll bet you get lots of information. Your LQS might also be helpful....good luck!

Ditter

I did it only once with a cross stitch pattern . It was a Christmas tree skirt that I didn't want "bright" white . I just filled the sink with hot water and dropped some tea bags in with the fabric, let it sit until it was as dark as I wanted , pulled it out and let it dry.

I am sure there are more complete directions on the net.

I think if I was doing it for a quilt I would do the fabrics seperately , that way you can control how much each fabric changes . But that is just me

I would probably antique the whole quilt when done, to replicate the fact the most antiques, darken all over... JMHO

I too would do it first.

I would do it first and do each fabric separately. They might take the die different.

I've tea dyed fabrics after pre-washing, before making the quilt. I've also tea dyed quite a few of my clothes to soften their colours. I love it, drinking-strength tea creates a lovely gentle antiqued look on white and cream, and it can take the "edge" off garish colors as well.

I have noticed that (using actual tea bags, not a commercial product) it comes out a bit different every time. So I'd be a bit wary of tea dying a finished quilt... :)

What I do:

I make sure I wash my fabric first to get all the chemicals out, with my normal detergent in the washing machine.

Then I make tea. For antiqueing fabric, a large pot of tea with anything between three and six tea bags, depending on how much darkening I want. (For darker dyeing, I'd use a stronger brew and longer soaking time.)

Any black tea will do. Redbush (roiboos) tea works, too, and gives a lovely, slightly more reddish beige/brown than black.

I leave the bags in for maybe ten minutes, again depending on how dark I want it, then pour the tea into a bucket two thirds full of cool water, leaving the teabags behind in the pot. This gives me a weak tea-ish liquid, I can see the bottom of the bucket through it!
I dunk my pre-washed fabric into it and swish it around a bit, then leave it for maybe two minutes, maybe ten, depending whether I want a slight "yellowing" or a stronger brownish tinge. When it looks good to me, I take it out, rinse it, wring it out. I might put it back for a bit more dyeing if it comes out too pale.

When done, I tend to wash the fabric in the washing machine again before I use it, as normal with detergent, just to be doubly safe that no tea remains that might later stain adjoining fabrics. (I doubt that this is necessary, I'm probably being paranoid...)

Hope this helps. Have fun and good luck!

I also wash fabrics after they've been tea-dyed. Sometimes up to half the color comes right out! Keep that in mind when you dye them in the first place so you don't have to keep redoing it. On the other hand, it's better to be lighter than desired and have to dye again than too dark and not be able to fix it.

The only thing you should know if you're using actual tea to dye the fabric is that the natural tannins etc will shorten the life of the fabric. Rit dye makes a product for tea dying that will eliminate this problem. I'm sure there are others out there for the same purpose.

I made my daughter a quilt and she thoiught it was too bright. So I used Rit dye, tan and used my washer. I follow the directions on the box. It soften the brightness and she liked the change. Good luck on your project. :D