I posted a photo of my hand-dyed threads on my Facebook page today. I often dye these with left-over dye dribbles from dyeing my fabric, they don't take a lot. And they always turn out pretty!
Fleur asked me if I use undyed thread or do I overdye already coloured thread? So I thought I'd do a little information post on dyeing embroidery thread.
First off I start with my big (8000+ metres!) cone of white cotton thread. It's DMC unstranded, like perle cotton.
I wind off 25 metre hanks on my measured winder. But if you don’t have one you could measure a piece of stiff cardboard and wind round that.
As an aside, my good friends husband (hello Sue and Tony!) made this winder for Mieke Apps, who some of you might have heard of - she was a dyeing legend in NZ - but she sadly passed away a few years ago. My friend had moved back to the UK when the winder made it’s way to me from Mieke, so it’s quite a treasured item.
Then I tie the hanks in a couple of places to avoid tangles and soak them in a sofa ash and water solution, just like I would for cotton fabrics.
I squeeze them out then drop dye solution onto them and let them batch for at least four hours. To get nice colour graduations you need to not use too much dye and smoosh it thoroughly and into the next dye colour. Takeaway containers are good mini-trays to use for thread hanks.
To wash them without getting tangled is a bit of a skill. I drape them in my gloved hand and let them rinse clear, doesn’t take long, then I soak them over a day, changing the water about five times until the last soak is clear. Then I wash them very gently with a bit of plain detergent. The trick is to never agitate, just squeeze them while keeping the hank shape.
Then dry, twist and admire!
Other tips:
You can sometimes find stranded DMC embroidery cotton hanks at op shops. Buy the white ones and dye them.
Don’t tie your hanks tightly, it will act as a resist and you’ll get a little white stripe.
Soak them thoroughly in the sofa ash solution or you’ll get patchy colour.
You can prop your tray to keep a dark colour from running down your hank and staining the other end.
Your threads are gorgeous! I have never seen big cones of DMC thread. I will have google and see if I can find some. I have dyed embroidery floss and it turned out ok, but with your instructions I am going to have to give it another go since I am working from home in Ohio these days. I can use the extra time I save from not having to dress for work or commute!
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