Thank you for the information....I often hand dye my fabrics as well. Sponging dye on to damp fabric can create very useful effects....such as blue sky with white clouds.
the herbal fruit teas dont do a very good job, I tried cranberry and it was a lovely shade of pink but within 2 days had turned a sort of mucky brown... search out natural dyes online, it will come up with loads of ideas and how tos :)
i have never done it myself, but i have heard that coffee dying is prefered to tea dying. i heard that theres not acid in the coffee that may damage the fibers and that is what makes it better, but i am not sure of the truth to that.