Burda Style For people who sew

I have always though dying your own fabric was something extremely, costly, time-consuming and difficult. Well, I was wrong. On a dare my friend and I took our knitting addiction to a new level; we dyed our own yarn. After some internet research and confirmation from my grandmother on how she colored fabrics back in the day we decided to just go for it. Although my grandmother suggested picking flowers etc. However today's weather is snowing, we decided we couldn't wait for spring and rather just take the easy-way-out by running to the supermarket and use our good friend Mr. Kool-Aid (and some cake dye from Wilton's). If you dare, just follow these simple step-by-step instructions. Just remember to have fun and bear in mind how many cool points you get from managing to do this (or at least try) ;-)

Technique Materials

Yarn* (I used Icelandic wool, 6 ply) Kool-aid (in the "flavors"/colors you want to dye your yarn) Boiling water Pot (big enough to soak your yarn in) Vinegar * Preferably natural; acrylics and polyester blends won't take up the color as well as you'd hope I'm afraid.

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1 Comment

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  Mar 14, 2011, 09.49 PMby trixiemcbubble

  I have been wanting to try dying with food coloring (and Kool-Aid, but I live in Denmark and I have never seen any). I just wonder if the colors will hold up to light, washing etc. Have you noticed any rubbing-off onto other things/textiles?

  1 Reply

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    Sep 5, 2011, 02.44 PMby tungufoss

    I’ve only knitted a hat, and thankfully my hair hasn’t turned orange/red. :) My friend coloured with Wilton cake dye (but I guess other food dyes would work as well), and that came out fine — besides she needed much less colour to dye her yarn, so it’s actually cheaper and gives a stronger colour. You just need to be careful to wash the yarn thoroughly after you add the vinegar, then it should’t stain other stuff. I wouldn’t use machine washing, not only because it’s hand dyed, but since it’s yarn it would shrink in hot water. Hand washing in lukewarm water hasn’t posed any problems.