Avocado Dyed Linen Remy Raglan

This top is really two projects in one: the fabric dyeing and then the sewing!

First, the dyeing: I've been meaning to try out avocado dyeing for years... I've been saving avocado pits in a bag in my freezer all this time (ask Tim how he felt about that 3 lbs of pits), with the intention of dyeing fabric with it. I'd seen folks achieve such beautiful, deep pinks with their avocado dye. 

When I finally decided it was time, my mom joined me and we followed the method from Rebecca Desnos's e-book, Botanical Colour at Your Fingertips- i.e. we pretreated the fabric with soy milk (a soaking and then several dip-and-dry sessions), followed by a long, slow dye process. 

We did a sort of shibori-inspired tying of our fabrics before dyeing them. We used some cotton gauze, lightweight linen and a handful of cotton dish towels. 

The linen, which I striped by loosely hand pleating it and wrapping with rubber bands, is what I ultimately used for this raglan top.

I was hoping to achieve a deep, rich pink, but in the end what we got was very... subtle. A super light peachy pink. I guess the color can vary significantly depending on a variety of factors, including the dye stuff, the water, etc.

In the end, what I got is very pretty, but the peachy color and low-contrast are not what I would typically choose for myself. 

The sewing: for my avocado-dyed linen, I opted to sew up the Sew House Seven Remy Raglan pattern.

The Remy pattern goes up to  size 34, which is a 61.5 inch full bust and a 65 inch hip. 

I cut a size 20 according to my bust measurement, which worked well, although I could have graded down to an 18 at the hip and I probably should have because that was more in line with my measurements. 

The Remy pattern is really cute- a simple pattern, but very wearable and it has some nice details. 

The rolled up sleeves are really cute and I love how nicely the neckline sits. 

I cut version 2, the short sleeved option with a center front split which is closed with a button and button loop. 

The whole top is sewn with french seams, which is great. The insides look as good as the outside!

I ended up topstitching the raglan sleeve seams to match the topstitched center front seam.

I used a big mother of pearl/shell button for the neck closure. It provides a little drama since my dye job is so subtle. 

I quite like the end result! Like I said, colorwise it's not my norm, but I'm glad I finally gave avocado dyeing a try. Style-wise the Remy Raglan is very me, so that's a win.