Whether you’re ready to celebrate fall or fall just lives in your heart year round, I wanted to share some fall tie dye colorways that felt right for the season. These are all combinations I tried on real projects, so you can see exactly how the colors melted, moved, and settled into the final design. Grab your dyes and let’s get into it.
Chino, Terracotta, and Black Cherry Scrunch
For this one I kept the technique simple with a scrunch fold and placed the dye somewhat randomly across the fabric. I used chino first, then added terracotta, and finished with black cherry, which reads more like a deep purple than a true cherry red.
Once the ice melted, the chino settled into a soft green tone. The black cherry gave the piece that pretty purple you can see running through it, and the terracotta filled in with a warm reddish color throughout. Chino is a ProChemical dye if you want to track down that exact shade.
Timberwolf and Salmon Moose
This combo came from a Facebook post I saw. Someone shared a similar pairing and it immediately read as fall to me, so I wanted to try my own version. Timberwolf is a gray splitting dye, and salmon moose is a big splitter too, which means both colors break apart into secondary tones as they dye.
Together they created this almost fiery look. It’s not a traditional fall palette, but I think that’s what makes it fun. A different take on the season’s usual oranges and browns.
I’m not sharing the fold I used for this one just yet. You’ll have to wait for the reveal.
Pagoda Red, Amber Waves, Black Cherry, and Brazil Nut on a Maple Leaf Fold
This is the fold from the last section, and it’s a maple leaf fold. I started with pagoda red in the center of the shape, added amber waves, sprinkled on a little black cherry, and finished with Brazil nut.
I went out on a limb with this combination, but it worked out better than I expected. The center holds that pagoda red, the purple comes through from the black cherry, Brazil nut created the splitting color you can see moving through the design, and amber waves filled in with that yellow tone tying it all together. If enough of you want to see the full folding process, I can put together a dedicated tutorial for this one.
Bonus Colorway: Bronze, Soft Orange, and Amber Waves
I’m adding this one as a bonus because I completely forgot to film the actual dyeing process. The final piece used bronze, soft orange, and amber waves on a shibori fold, and it ended up looking like a scattering of leaves.
Amber waves shows up clearly in the design, bronze fills in a lot of the deeper background tones, and soft orange runs throughout. Out of everything I made while testing fall tie dye colors, this might be my favorite.
Which Fall Colorway Is Your Favorite?
All four of these fall tie dye combinations came together differently, but each one captured a piece of the season in its own way. If you want more color inspiration beyond these four, I have a whole playlist of colorway videos on my channel worth browsing.
And if you’re new to folding or want more options beyond scrunch, splitter, and shibori, grab my free 12 Tie Dye Folds ebook for a quick reference you can keep on hand while you dye.
Fall Tie Dye FAQ
What colors work best for fall tie dye? Warm, earthy tones tend to read as fall, but you don’t have to stick to just orange and brown. Colors like terracotta, amber waves, and Brazil nut give that classic autumn feel, while pops of black cherry or timberwolf add contrast without breaking the mood.
Can you mix splitting dyes with regular dyes for fall tie dye projects? Yes. Splitting dyes like timberwolf and salmon moose break into secondary tones as they dye, so pairing them with a solid color like chino or pagoda red gives you depth without needing a long list of dye colors.
What folds work well for fall tie dye colorways? Scrunch, shibori, and shaped folds like a maple leaf all work well for fall tie dye. Shaped folds tend to show off multi-color combinations the best since the dye settles into distinct sections rather than blending together.
