I’M DYING—

[think of this list—as i hope you think of most instructions in life—as more of a guide than concrete law. experimentation is key! i am but a humble servant improvising my way thru this world]

Prep yo Fabrix

Wash [aka “scour”] fabric to remove any pretreatments or oils

• for this step i used homemade soda ash. you can either make some like this or find it at your friendly neighborhood arts & crafts outpost

Give it the Royal [pre-]Treatment

it’s mordant time! The natural tannins in avo pits & skins already love to lend their color, but everyone needs a little boost sometimes.

i went with a soy milk bath to ready my cotton.

• peep the full routine here

Draw ze bath!

once your fabric is sufficiently “cured” [i waited about a week], fill a BIG pot with enough water so the fabric can move around & set on the stove to boil

• a stainless steel stock pot is great for this so it doesn’t transfer or retain any color

coax out your dye hue:

• loose ratio: 5-8 avo pits per 1/2 lb fabric

bring stones to a low boil [rolling boil may “burn” the color]

let simmer for at least 20 mins, prob more like an hour [or whenever you like the color of the water]

once you’ve gotten the perfect color, scoop the avo pits & any remaining bits out of the water

Dye-cide yo Vibe

the general rule is that fabric should be wet going into the dye bath so it soaks up the dye evenly

• if you’re not worried about uniform color, toss it in the pot dry and see what happens!

• if you’re going for a shibori/tie dye vibe—fold/scrunch/swirl/twist & bind fabric wet or dry

• if you’re only trying to work with one pattern variant at a time: wet the fabric, wring it out, then go about your intended binding before adding it to the dye bath

once you’ve set your intention, add fabric into dye bath & make sure it gets submerged. give it a good stir

O Boil

here i keep it on low heat for about an hour [stirring occasionally], then turn the heat off and let the fabric soak in the dye for 24-48 hrs

• hot tip: i usually plunge a heavy plate into the pot to hold the fabric underwater

The Wash Up

once you’re done soaking, start rinsing your fabric

• i try to get as much mileage out of each dye bath as scientifically possible, so i fish the fabric pieces out of the pot, squeeze out as much juice as I can & rinse them individually, then I throw more stuff in the dye bath & start again!

if you are just doing one round of dying, strain it like pasta in a [preferably metal] colander & blast it with lukewarm water until it runs clear

alternate option: toss them all in the washing machine on a quick rinse & spin cycle to get out any lingering juice

• you can use a gentle pH neutral soap here if you’ve got it, but not necessary. avo juice is natural!

hanging dry is great, but heat helps set the color further. you can iron your pieces once they’re dry, or if you’ve got a dryer, toss it in!

YOU DID IT!!