dyed with Kool Aid!
Thanks to my friend Madame Mudslinger who suggested I look into this! I’ve just come off a marathon research session on needle felting and have decided it’s the next thing I’m going to teach myself. Here’s a cute little video that shows 2D image felting and another which shows 3D shape felting.
I’m totally twitterpated with this idea. So I found a few websites that sell needle felting materials. It’s pretty expensive! But I was at the farmer’s market today and found 15oz of wool for 15$ this is pretty good since most websites sell wool roving for around 5$/oz. yikes!
So the first part of this felting journey is all about dyeing wool. I’ve read up on it, and though I thought using beets would be a simple idea… apparently, they don’t make a good textile dye – even for wool! who’d a thunk it?!
Apparently, the best dye is Kool Aid! This makes me happy. a) because I don’t want to have to buy a bunch of bonding agents like alum and b) because there are so many different colours and c) because … well… Kool Aid!
Before getting the Kool Aid I thought I’d try a little beet dyeing just for fun. I took a little bit of wool and for fun dyed one bit with beets, another with tea, another with coffee and a last one with turmeric.
Here’s the unscientific way I did it:
1- boil the beets/coffee/tea/turmeric to steep them in their own little baths
2- strain out the liquid (dye)
3-put the wool in the bath and simmer for awhile… an hour is what people say, but honestly, the beets didn’t even simmer at all and the turmeric for only 5 minutes or so.
clockwise from red: beets, tea, turmeric, coffee
4- I added a bit of vinegar to bond the dye in the coffee and the beets…
I read somewhere that it’s a good idea.
5- I let it cool and soak for about 24 hours.
6- take out the wool and rinse
They turned out really well!
Next step! finding a felting needle and other felting supplies… hmmmmmm
Mommy Makes Stuff 