Dyeing Yarn with Easter Egg Dye

Last spring I came upon some posts showing how to have fun dyeing wool yarn with egg dyes. I knew we had to give it a try. So, I began collecting wool yarn and got most of it from a sewing reuse shop nearby. We had gobs of yarn and it was finally just the right time to try!

The yarn has to be wool or another yarn made from animal hair.

We chose colors that were in the same vicinity on the color wheel. This color wheel exercise is from the Hearts and Trees Magazine. R11 remember it just for the occasion!

R11 enjoyed preparing the dyes.

First you soak the yarn in a water and vinegar solution and you have to make sure the yarn is saturated. (1/4 cup vinegar to a cup of water)

Mix dyes with a half cup of water and a tablespoon of vinegar.

We made the hank of yarn into a circle so the colors would not bleed across sides.

We used a pipette on the second bath (which turned out orange all over!), but pouring is much faster.

Dye poured on and ready to go... seemed faded and I wasn't so sure.

Seal the top and cook the yarn in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes. Five was good for us. You know you are done when the water is clear in the pan. It really happened! Clear water was left behind.

If there is still dye in the solution, then let it cool some and cook it again. The solution really will be clear when it's all done!

Once you are in the clear, rinse the yarn to get the vinegar off. The bathtub was suggested, but that proved scary for me as the dye did color out some in the water and my tub was pink. The night before a showing! (remember...house is for sale). Next batch I did right in the pan I cooked it in over my stainless steel kitchen sink! Much better! Comet and then some bleach took care of the pink. But I thought I might need a sign reading, "Late night art project...we promise we'll get it out!"

Hang the yarn out to dry and ball it when it's all done.

This was an extremely satisfying project and I'm happy to report we have probably 10 more skeins to dye! I also bought the grocery store out of egg dyeing kits yesterday! This is a great time of year to try out this sort of thing and it helps to soothe the spring fever in all of us. I also think it would be a lot of fun for Sewing Camp.

Embrace the fun of spring and try something new at your house!