Learn to dye with Easter egg dyes!

By Tara, on June 12th, 2009

A few months ago, I shot some videos on How to Dye with Easter egg dyes. At the time, it answered the most common question I got: How do you dye?

Since posting those videos, the questions have switched to “where can I get those dyes?” “Are THESE the right dyes?” I’ve always answered with a general “Well, this is where I get mine”, but when I got an email from someone in Japan who loved the videos, but couldn’t find the Easter egg dyes at a good price (they go for $4/box on eBay!), I knew I could provide the answer.

I was telling Jay about how exciting it was to send something so American to Japan.

He responded said “So why don’t you offer kits to EVERYone who didn’t stash 1000s of boxes at Easter time?”

Duh! (I’m going to promote him from “tech guy” to “Product Development” although it occurs to me now that this might have been a sneaky plot to “help” me part with my huge stash of Easter egg dyes!)

Quick as a lick, I put together everything you need to dye some fiber using a pack of East Egg dyes.

12 oz of fiber, already divided into the size you need for each tablet + pack of dyes + instructions!

You can find the Make Rainbows kit right here!

And you really lucked out, because the dyes I have the most of come 6 to a pack (last year I only found 5-packs) and they are HUGE. Each tablet dyes 2 oz of fiber!

Your resulting fiber will look something like this:

(of course, if you don’t want to try dyeing, you can find the already-dyed fiber right here)

Tamarie Timmerman

Great Idea blondechicken. I have been to several $ stores since easter and they do not keep them on the shelves here after easter. So I went with food coloring.
http://www.highpowerline.com/ Isac

Painted fiber look simply stunning! I think of them get a good thing!
CC

If you've ever noticed,(or ever done this) When you're picking black berries, they tend to stain your hands,very easily.They have very dark,thick juice,could you dye yarn with this?
http://blondechicken.blogspot.com blondechicken

I have read about dyeing with blackberry juice! You need a specific mordant to set the color and I'm not sure what it is. A quick google of “dyeing with blackberries” should turn up something if you decide to try it out.
Let me know if you do!

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http://blondechicken.blogspot.com blondechicken

I have read about dyeing with blackberry juice! You need a specific mordant to set the color and I'm not sure what it is. A quick google of “dyeing with blackberries” should turn up something if you decide to try it out.
Let me know if you do!

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Andrea

I have a question. I wanted to be able to lay the roving out (like a snake) and I guess tie-dye it with the easter egg dyes. How do you do that? Do you have to soak it first in a vinegar/water mix…cause I don't want to just have solid colors…please help. I have been sitting on this darned computer with easter egg dyes and fiber looking at me…and I just want to find the right way to do it before I turn some pretty alpaca roving into muck.
http://blondechicken.blogspot.com blondechicken

Well, I may do my first trial on something less precious than alpaca! It will take some experimenting before you get results you love!
To dye it like you mention, I would definately soak the fiber in water + vinegar. Then squeeze it out (gently!), lay it out (I lay it in a pan), then pour the colors over it. Go very slowly and leave plenty of white space (the color will seep out to the edges) if you don't want it to mix.

For best results, use colors that are close to each other, so they look good if they blend. You're only going to get brown if you put complimentary colors next to each other (red/green, orange/blue, yellow/purple).

Good luck!

Let me know how it goes,
Tara

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http://blondechicken.blogspot.com blondechicken

Well, I may do my first trial on something less precious than alpaca! It will take some experimenting before you get results you love!
To dye it like you mention, I would definately soak the fiber in water + vinegar. Then squeeze it out (gently!), lay it out (I lay it in a pan), then pour the colors over it. Go very slowly and leave plenty of white space (the color will seep out to the edges) if you don't want it to mix.

For best results, use colors that are close to each other, so they look good if they blend. You're only going to get brown if you put complimentary colors next to each other (red/green, orange/blue, yellow/purple).

Good luck!

Let me know how it goes,
Tara

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Learn to dye with Easter egg dyes!