Avocado-dyed Drawstring Bag

This past month I took a break from quilting and focused on a few other sewing projects.
 
Lately I’ve been loving the look of natural dyed fabrics. The thought of using natural materials like onion skins, berries, black beans, tea bags, avocado skins, etc. to dye fabric intrigued me. I’m not sure exactly why, perhaps the idea of using organic material to produce beautiful earthy colors.
 
For my first attempt I decided on using avocado skins and pits. This was a fairly simple process and the fabric turned out a beautiful dusty pink.
 
First I had to wash the 100% white cotton that I used. Then I washed two avocados’ skins and pits and added it to a large pot which I filled with enough water to cover skins, pits and later the fabric and brought it to a simmer.

While simmering, the water started to turn pink. For some reason I thought the water would turn green! After that I removed the skins and pits and added my still damp fabric.

I let that simmer for about 90 minutes and then removed the pot from the stove and let it sit in the dye overnight.

The next morning I removed it from the dye, rinsed it and let it dry. Then I ironed it with a warm iron and decided to use it for this pretty drawstring bag.

Drawstring bags are so handy and fun and can be made into any size you want. You can use it for traveling purposes, storing your crochet project, as a gift bag, et cetera.
 
I started by cutting white, pink and coral fabrics into 3 x 3 inch squares. (It seems like I just can’t stop myself from cutting up fabric into squares!)

I alternated the white and pink/coral, and sewed it into three rows.

I added the dyed pink to the top half to form the outside of the bag. For the lining I used a pretty pink floral fabric for the top half and the dyed pink for the bottom half.

Once I’ve attached the inside and outside, I sewed a casing for the drawstring.

I added a decorative stitch that looks like hand stitching just above the top row of squares.

For the drawstring I used white ribbon and added a couple of white beads to give it some sparkle. 

Dimensions: 14.5 x 13.5 inches (37 x 34 cm)
 
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Back in December I embellished some tea towels in pretty Christmas colors. I still had some tea towels left from back then, so I decided to make a couple to celebrate spring. Take a look! And if you’re interested in making your own, take a look here for an easy tutorial.