Tea bag Embroidery

When you are thirsty there is nothing better than a good cup of tea. Like most people I now use tea bags which means I throw hundreds of used ones away each month.

However, you can dry the teabag, empty out the used tea and you have tea-stained paper that can be used for embroidery.

When dry the tea bags are stained various shades of brown and tea bags come in a variety of shapes. A few of the herbal teas stain a different colours. A slit is made at the back of the bag and the tea emptied then a piece of iron on interfacing is attached to the back to support the stitching.

Six tea bags, embroidered and decorated with lace and pressed flowers. The embroideries are attached to hand-made paper.

Embroidered squares cut and attached to angelina covered tea bags and embroidered again.

Tea bags covered in frayed material and the velvet gathered and embroidered.

Blue scrim embroidered with metallic threads on tea bags displayed on hand made paper.

Rust dyed fabric embroidered onto creased tea bags.

Another way of using tea bags is to open them out and glue onto hand made paper producing a background which can be printed onto or additional printed  tissue added.

Tea bag paper background with added tissue and printed spirals.
Fabric flowers embroidered over the top.

Tea bag background stamped in gold with machine embroidered humming bird and flower attached. The centre of the flower is a dried flower found in a garden and given to me by a friend.

These are the samples I have prepared for a workshop I shall be leading in June on tea bag embroidery. Who would have thought that used tea bags could be such fun!