Muji socks. I thought the 70-80% cotton composition would be enough to get soft colours, but if I wanted stronger colours I would search for 100% natural fibre, wash the socks before dyeing or try a mordant. I don't think the oatmeal socks were as dark as they are in the photographs.


I usually make English Breakfast on weekend mornings, and green tea whenever I feel like it. I
would buy loose leaf, except we temporarily don't have a teapot.
English BreakfastBoiled three teabags in one litre of water for 10 minutes (until the water was a fairly deep brown) then threw the teabags away.

Soaked the socks in the (still simmering) tea until the colour wanted was reached - in this case, around 10-15 minutes. For a darker brown, I would probably soak them for about an hour or two. I simmered the tea and socks together, but after looking up some tutorials and guides to natural dyes I found out it's actually not necessary to do that - people usually soak the fabric in the coloured water after boiling and straining out solid bits.

Squeezed and rinsed the socks, then left them in cold water for half an hour to help the dye set. Hung them up to dry after that.

While waiting I made myself a small meal (not pictured - sashimi, salad)

Even the coaster is tea-themed
Green TeaBoiled four teabags in a litre of water for 15 minutes, and threw out the teabags before before adding socks and simmering. I was hoping for light green socks, but this green tea is normally a yellow-green, so I wasn't too surprised when the socks started to turn yellow. However, after half an hour of soaking in tea, the socks had only become a very pale yellow with no sign of green. I blithely added four more teabags and continued simmering.

An hour after the green tea socks had begun soaking I was getting hungry again, so I polished off the half-finished tub of green tea ice cream languishing in the fridge.

After one and a half hours the socks were not getting any greener. In fact, the tea was slowly turning brown. I suppose the tea was oxidising - essentially, turning into black tea. The socks were still disappointingly pale, but looked like they were pale yellow-brown rather than a pale yellow.

In frustration I turned off the stove and left them to soak overnight
The Next DayIn the morning the green tea socks looked browner. I took them out, rinsed them in cold water and left them to soak for half an hour

Meanwhile, the english breakfast socks had dried. Interestingly, the elastic inside the socks darkened a lot more than the socks themselves.

They shrunk from men's socks to just the right size for me.

Originally I was feeling rebellious and I wore the L sock on my right foot and the R sock on my left foot, but these socks really are shaped for the correct side.
The green tea socks became a soft powdery yellow, which I do like.

They shrunk a lot - the diagonal line at the side was originally the heel of the sock.
