Coffee Staining

Coffee staining your fabric is a great way to get that old, primitive look.

I find muslin works the best when doing this type of technique.

First, you need to get a jar of instant coffee, or left over coffee from that morning's breakfast, and place it in a large pot with water. I find seven or eight tablespoons of coffee to a couple of quarts of water work fine.

Start to heat until it almost comes to a boil. Turn off heat and add your fabric you want to stain.

Let the fabric sit in the coffee mixture and check every 10 minutes or so to test for the color you want to achieve.

I usually let this sit for about an hour.

When you've let this sit for the amount of time you'd like, bring it over the the sink and carefully take out the cloth (using tongs works great) and rinse under cold water.

You can put the remainder of the coffee in a container to use again later if you'd like.

Now, to get that really old look take out a cookie sheet and cover with tin foil.

Set your oven to 250 and place your fabric flat on the cookie sheet.

This might take a while so keep checking every 15 minutes or so.

This actually dries the fabric and gives it markings to make it look old.

When one side is done flip over and do the other side.

If you don't want to use this technique simply hang on a line to dry, or toss in the dryer.

Here is a finished piece I did recently.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have on this project. You can reach me at dianne2255@cox.net or support@primdecortips.com.

and remember ---