Hand dyeing your own skeins of embroidery thread.....

Red and yellow and pink and green, orange

and purple and blue .... I can sing a rainbow, sing

a rainbow too!

As you all know I buy my hand dyed threads from America and they are the shaker one that I love.  Having said that you can always dye your own.  If you buy white embroidery thread what is to stop you dyeing your own colour ways yourself, it could be really exciting.

I have a few tips for you on this subject.  Firstly when you make your dye from say woad or

blackberries or what ever you decide to use subject to the colour you require then my advice is make a batch and only dye one skein ( do not however throw away the dye batch that you have made)  dry your skein that you have dyed and make sure you are really pleased with the results then you can dye more for your collection of the same batch.  If you are not happy you can adjust the colour.

Last summer I did a series on hand dyeing fabrics with natural ingredients and you can look at that for your instructions and it will work just as well on embroidery cottons.

The Shaker ones that I buy have wonderful names such as blueberry pie and crows feet, brick path and the celery and pumpkin patch!  You can name your own for your colour ways that you invent.

I am going to have a go at this in January when it is quiet here.  I am going to try and dye some for myself and name them.  Then I will use them in an embroidery project.

This summer I have frozen raspberries, blackcurrants and blackberries so I am going to have a go
with some of those.  You can buy natural dyes from the internet as well if you do not want to have a go at making your own ( always wearing gloves especially with beetroot!!) I buy woad for blues as it is hard to find unless you grow your own dyeing garden ( which I am going to do when we move)

I love the way hand dyed comes out slightly variegated and unique and it brings a depth to your embroidery as well with its natural shading on a leaf or a petal.

If any of you have a go before me please let me know how it went and what the beautiful results have been.

Well I am away to my stitchery and packing today so I hope you all have a wonderful day and as always Happy Stitching!