Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs - All Fiber Arts
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Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs - All Fiber Arts |
| Dyeing Easter eggs and wool using natural dyes found in your kitchen. | |
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Natural Dyed Easter Eggs |
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The jars in the photo contain some white Romney wool, mordanted in a Tin bath. Starting with the dark blue egg and going clockwise the dyes used were:
Red Cabbage & vinegar |
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| For each Easter egg, I used the following dye method.
Hard boil all the eggs first.
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Dyed WoolBecause there was quite a bit of dye left over in each jar, I didn't want to waste it, so I also dyed some wool. I pre-mordanted some fleece in a Tin (stannous chloride) mordant. If you don't have access to Stannous chloride, you can substitute by using a clean tin can. Place it in a pot of water and boil it for a few hours. You could also use an Alum mordant. Mordants change the structure of the fibre to allow the dye to penetrate. Mordants also improve the colourfastness of the dye. Different mordants also produce different colours, so experiment with them to see what colours you can create. If you don't have fleece or aren't a handspinner, try dyeing some spun wool, mohair, angora, silk or alpaca yarn, instead. |
| After removing the egg, reheat each jar in the microwave for a minute. Then add the mordanted wool to the dyebath and let it stand for about an hour. When the dyebath cools, reheat the jar in the microwave for another minute. The heat helps the wool to absorb the dye. Reheat each jar about 3 -4 times as they cool. Then let each jar sit overnight to allow the wool to absorb more dye. Remove the dyed wool from the jar and rinse in cool water with a bit of dish soap. Squeeze out the water and let the wool dry
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Dye Recipes |
| The Dye Recipes |
| More of This Feature:
Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: |
Easter Crafts and Patterns: |
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Natural Dyes |
| Information about using Natural Dyes |
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