Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Switching Gears ~

I am working on that deadline ~
and am working on some wool applique designs ~
 
so I have grouped my wools and need to get my pearl cottons in order...
 
 


like most of you, I favor certain colors and have my own palette...
they are a little too bright, so I will dip-dye them in my homemade walnut dye ~
 
 


I lke to keep them in their 'twisted' state and dip them half-way down into my dye jar...
dipping them only halfway lets some of the threads stay undyed
so when finished,
 they will have a variegated look.
 
 



'poison' greens now take on a more mellow look...
I'm happy with that!
 
 



here they are all half-dyed and waiting to dry...
 
 


 
 I placed them on a cookie sheet and out into the full sun they go,
to dry just a little bit...
then I'll pop them into the oven to dry completely.
the oven is what gives them that 'look' I like :)
 


after drying in the oven for a bit,
the walnut dye 'scorches' on the cookie sheet,
...and then I flip them over to let that happen again ~
 
 


 
once they're completely dry, the scorch marks lighten up a bit...
giving the threads a nice, old look.
 
 


 
and since I dyed them whilst they were twisted,
the effect is perfect...
not too much, not too little.
 
 


 
now I'm ready to hang them and begin stitching with them...
I can't show you the finished project that I'm working on,
... but I can take some 'secret' snaps and share them with you tomorrow!
 
 

 
did you know that you can use these in your medium-sized Cameo Ultra Punch needle?
use all of the strands together, like you would with regular DMC floss (like I do with all 6 strands)
the finished look is really nice & old looking!
 
Hoping you enjoyed my little tutorial ~
let me know how your Pearl Cotton comes out if you try this technique!
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

19 comments:

The French Bear said...

Lori, your dyed threads are perfect! I love the aged look they get, hopefully we will have some sunny days ahead so I can dry mine outside! Sometimes I use tan or coffee to dye them too. How are things coming along? are you as crazy busy, it seems there are never enough hours to fit it all in.
Love the color choices in the wool, it looks like fruit or sweets waiting to be gobbled up!!!
Hugs,
Mags
xx

gracie said...

Your thread magic is wonderful...

Ronda said...

Hi Lori,,,

Wonderful, thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see what you are stitching..are the threads here 5, 8 or 12 perle cotton?..

Lori from Notforgotten Farm said...

Hi Ronda ~ these are #5 DMC perle cotton :)
~ Lori

Val Reaves said...

Hi Lori,
The threads are so beautiful... How do you make your dye? I have a black walnut that hangs over into my back yard...do you just soak the black walnuts that fall from the tree?
Thanks for the beautiful pictures!
Val in Kansas

Ronnie said...

Love your threads, the look is wonderful! What temp. do you set your oven at and about how long do you leave them in for. Thanks for the tutorial.

Doreen Frost said...

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Unknown said...

Love your dying method...gotta try it! They look really good!

Martha

Jane said...

It's a beautiful day to dye, hook or punch. We spent the morning tilling up the veggie garden. Now I can JUST SIT this afternoon and do some stitchin'!

My Colonial Home said...

Beautiful wools and love what you do to the thread. I've seen this before and I will need to try it! I love the look.
Karen

NMK said...

Your threads look so pretty , so neat how you dye them , they just look so pretty on the cookie sheet ! Your wools look beautiful too !

denise said...

love your wool and floss! denise

Rugs and Pugs said...

Thanks for sharing.
Hugs :)
Lauren

pearlschoice said...

What a great tutorial! I haven't over dyed the perle cotton yet, but now I feel encouraged to do so, and ai already have walnut dye. I have been over dyeing the DMC Medici lace weight yarn to use in punchneedle, and that is going well. I am a long time rug hooker and dyer of woolens, so I feel comfortable dyeing the woolen yarns. Have even bought some lovely cream colored lace weight from Estonia, very high grade yarn. The dyeing of the cotton flosses has troubled me, because I don't want to deal with all the chemical processes associated with cottons. And Rit dye fades too fast, ugh. So I love your use of the walnut, voila, instant aging. Thanks so much. Carol in NH

jennifer768 said...

Love the outcome!Thanks so much for sharing your technique.Hugs,Jen

Anonymous said...

this is so fabulous, Lori! love the tute and i'm definitely going to give it a try! thank you for your generosity!

rebecca

oldgreymare said...

I am thrilled to see this post- it never would have occurred to me to do this and I have a project I have been saving for far too long, until I was inspired. You just did. Inspire me..so a huge thank you

SewAmy said...

I love the look of the threads dyed! They are just gorgeous. Can you tell how to make the walnut dye? I've never made dye before.

Unknown said...

Lori, how do you prepare your walnut dye? I wasn't sure so I took walnuts off the ground, put them in a big pot and boiled them, then dipped my fabric in it for a bit, rinsed and dried. I didn't try my flosses, but the fabric didn't really change a lot so must be doing something wrong!0