This weekend I decided to experiment with Natural Dyes. I recently read that Avocados produced my most favourite shade of pink and Black Beans my favourite shades of blue, I had to see this for myself.

I made the dyes and tested them on various fabrics and materials to see what colours could be achieved and bought a blank tote bag to dye and decorate for this week’s project for my 52 Weekends.

I absolute loved this project as I’ve never done anything like this before, it was easy, the results was perfect and I’ve got lovely fabrics to use as props in my food photography props and a fab bag. (The ‘HOW TO’ instructions are below the photos).

HOW TO make Avocado Stone Dye – Use three avocado stones, washed so no green flesh remains, put in a medium size saucepan and cover with just enough water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 40 mins (the water will turn maroon). Turn off from the heat, cover with a lid and leave over night.

HOW TO make Avocado Skin Dye – Clean the skins of 3 avocados so no green flesh remains, then roughly cut up into 1cm pieces.  Then same as above recipe.

HOW TO make Black Bean Dye – 8oz of dried uncooked black beans, cover with just enough water, stir and leave for at least 24 hours, stirring occasionally and topping up water when required.

When dye is ready strain through a sift/strainer lined with a muslin cloth (or any cloth/fabric similar) into a bowl. Place fabrics into the bowl of dye and soak for 2-3 hours, remove and rinse in cold water, wring out as much water as possible then hang to dry.

TIP 1. Hand wash fabric before dying, place in dye whilst still wet.

TIP 2. Store used avocado skins and stones in the freezer until you’ve collected 3 or more.