No I'm not cooking, I'm dying!!

I have a string of shells on cotton webbing that I want to use as a decoration on a beach bag. The cotton webbing is light off white and the fabric on the bag is yellow, red, orange batik in a stripe that resembles a sun set.

The webbing was too white so husband and I went into the kitchen and started pulling out all sorts of things to dye with. I tried tea (too subtle), curry (nice but a little too much on the brown side), paprika (too subtle), and tumeric (nice!). I then tried a mixture of all three which was a nice "natural" shade of straw, good hue but not the look I wanted.

I also wanted a little less uniformity in color than just yellow or brown so I dyed a piece in tumeric until I had a nice bright yellow, rinsed it, then while it was still really wet I put tiny dabs of red food coloring on it and PRESTO BANGO ... SUNSET!!!

From what I've read, tumeric dye isn't very colorfast. I'm not too worried about it coming out in the wash, but tumeric is also suseptable to sun fade. Being that it's a beach bag ...

... will setting it in a vinegar bath be enough or should I use retayne? Will either of them work for sun fade as opposed to wash fade??

I would be worried about a damp strap resting on your top, and it staining, more than the strap fading :wink:
Vinegar and then dip it in boiling water to test it for colorfastness :D:D:D

Most natural dyes I have played with always use a mordant to set the color, just check online to find your answer. Lots of site on dyeing fabric.

Since it is the strap...how about sealing it with some spray sealer for crafts?

Tumeric is one of the natural dyes that does not need a mordant. Checked that. Was also where I saw sun fade, but not much about how/if it can be stopped.

It's not a strap, it is just a decorative strip that will be sewn down flat (except for the dangly sea shells). It's only 3/8 wide. And if it does bleed ... it's the same colors as the batik that its sew to so even *I* wouldn't notice it.

I'll try the hot dip test ... thanks!!

Interesting....onion skins give a nice colour too...did it many years ago...lasts a while (from memory). Just save up onion skins and boil.

My experiment with turmeric faded.

all fabrics will fade from sunlight- not much you can do about that other than keep them out of direct sunlight-
it does not happen immediately- it takes time- but you will notice fading (and not all over-all at once-it will be -blotchy fading)
that is why you are recommended to keep your folded fabrics out of sunlight- otherwise the folds/areas that get the sun will fade-
you meantioned rinsing- did you also heat set? heat setting helps the dye stay in longer-
and it's been my experience that food coloring looses its color the fastest-fades quick---i suppose because it is made to be used in food- not on fabric so does not have the same (chemical composition) as textile dyes.

Can you make the strap detachable? Maybe attach it with snaps or velcro? With the seashells on it, I'd hesitate to wash it very much.