Just in time for Mother's Day, impress the special woman in your life with an artfully wrapped gift!
With this easy Naturally Dyed Silk Ribbon project, you'll create a unique gift wrapping ribbon that’s handmade and full of love. Cinco de Mayo is also just around the corner, which means it’s prime time for plenty of avocado dishes - take advantage of this by collecting as many avocado pits as possible from friends and neighbors!
Creating beautiful blush-pink silk ribbons using avocado pits as a natural dye is remarkably simple, eco-friendly, and fun! With a few easy steps and a small collection of avocado pits, the most amazing hues will unfold in no time. So eat your avocado toast, whip up some guacamole, and get ready to craft away!
It's a win-win! Make guacamole and save your avocado pits, then, have fun crafting yards of naturally dyed silk ribbon!!
BLUSH-PINK NATURALLY DYED SILK RIBBONS
MATERIALS
• 10-15 Avocado pits
• Large stainless steel or aluminum pot
• Heat-resistant rubber gloves or slotted spoon
• Undyed silk ribbon (here I use 6 yards of 1.5-inch width silk ribbon and 6 yards of 2.5-inch width silk ribbon). Get Undyed Silk Ribbons HERE
METHOD
Step 1. Collect your avocado pits for dyeing. Wash to remove any leftover pulp. The more avocado pits you use, the darker and more saturated the color will be. Start with 10-15 avocado pits, but even if you only have 5 pits, you can create a light pink shade. Here I used 12 avocado pits of varying sizes.
Step 2. Prepare your silk ribbon for dyeing by adding them to a bowl of room-temperature tap water for 1 hour to saturate the fabric and open the fibers to accept the dye. Set aside while you prepare your dye bath.
Step 3. Add the avocado pits to your pot and fill the pot with tap water to cover the pits with about 3 inches of water above the pits.
Step 4. Place the pot on the stove and turn the heat to medium, cover with a lid, and gradually bring your water to a boil. Once your water comes to a rolling boil, turn the heat down to low and continue to simmer for a minimum of 30 mins., but 1 hour is ideal. Keep an eye on your water level, if it begins to evaporate, add additional water to maintain the water level. Next, turn off the heat and let sit to cool. (Leaving your dyebath overnight will deepen the hue.)
Step 5. When the dyebath is cool, remove the avocado pits with a slotted spoon or rubber gloves (avocado pits are high in tannins, which can irritate your skin). Your leftover avocado pits can be composed*.
Step 6. Add the wetted-out fabric (from step 2) to the dyebath. Turn the heat to low-medium and bring to a light simmer. Stir occasionally. Observe as the color is infused into the silk. After about 30 mins, turn the heat to low and continue to cook until your desired color is achieved (note that the color you see when the silk is wet will be a shade lighter when dried). Once you achieve your desired shade, turn off the heat and let it cool**.
For the darkest hue, leave your ribbons in the dyebath overnight to intensify the color.
Step 7. When your dyeing is complete and your dyebath is cooled to room temperature, remove your ribbons from the dyebath and rinse thoroughly with cool tap water. Hand wash with pH-neutral soap, such as Seventh Generation, and hang to dry.
*Once your avocado pits are cooled, you can chop the softened pits to open up more surface area. Add the pits back to a pot of water and repeat the cooking process. Reusing the pits for a second dye bath will create lighter shades, and the oxidation of the pits usually creates a more coral hue in the second round.
** To create an ombre of hues, you can use a slotted spoon or heat-resistant rubber gloves to pull ribbon pieces from the dye bath in 1-hour intervals. (The ribbons pictured were cooked for 1 hour for a light shade, 2 hours for a light-medium shade, and 5-hours for the darkest shade pictured.)
Pictured here is 6 yards of 2.5 inch width silk ribbon and 6 yards of 1.5 inch width silk ribbon.
