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Tea & Coffee Dyeing Embroidery Floss

By Amy

Tea & Coffee Dying Embroidery Floss

After showing you my experiment

with dyeing finished punch needle projects,

I thought it might be helpful to also see

what using tea and coffee to

dye the embroidery floss before punching looks like.

I will show you step by step my process for dyeing embroidery floss

and the results from the dye.

Before Starting:

Be sure to use colorfast floss –

check with the manufacturer of the floss if you aren’t sure.

You don’t want the dyes from the threads bleeding onto your other flosses.

Make sure you are dyeing enough floss!

If you run out of floss before you finish punching your project,

it can be difficult to replicate your batch of dye.

Preparing the Embroidery Floss:

It is important to properly prepare the floss

so you don’t end up with a tangled mess in the dye pot!

Start by taking the papers off the floss

and wrapping the floss around a book.

This book is about 8 1/2 inches tall.

The exact measurement of the book isn’t important –

it just needs to be big enough you can tie a knot in the loops of floss.

Wind the floss

Once you have the floss all wound around the book,

slide it off the book and

tie it into a knot in the middle of the loop.

Tie the floss

Dyeing Embroidery Floss:

Prepare your dye.

I used six regular tea bags in four cups of water for the tea dye,

normally brewed coffee,

and made instant coffee as directed on the package.

You could make your dyes stronger or weaker

 depending on how dark you want the flosses to turn out.

I let the liquids cool to room temperature so I don’t burn myself

or shrink the fibers in the embroidery floss.

Soak the prepared floss in water – just long enough to get them wet.

Then immerse them into your dye.

Let soak a while.  The longer the soak, the darker the results.

I let mine soak five minutes.

Dying Floss

Drying the Embroidery Floss:

After the threads have soaked,

take them out and squeeze out any excess liquid.

Place them on a towel to dry.

Leave them somewhat balled up while drying.

This will create the variegation in the threads.

Sign me up!

Dry Floss

Preparing Dyed Floss for Punching:

After the threads are completely dry, untie the knot.

If you are going to punch with 3 strands, separate the floss

and then wind it onto spools.

Dyeing Embroidery Floss Results:

The variegation on the lighter threads was definitely easier to see

but the darker threads have an aged look also.

Dyed Embroidery Floss

Here’s the lighter floss after tea dyeing.

Tea Dyed Floss

This is the coffee dyed floss.

Coffee dyed floss

And this is the floss dyed with instant coffee.

Instant Coffee Dyed Floss

Punched Projects with Dyed Embroidery Floss:

I punched this free punch needle pattern

with all three sets of threads.

Punched Projects from dyed floss

The tea dyed threads ended up with the most variation in color,

but it has a slight reddish cast to it.

Blessings~
Amy

Pin this dyeing tutorial for later!

Tea & Coffee Dying Embroidery Floss

Filed Under: Punch Needle, Tutorials

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About Me

Our small farm is nestled amongst the Amish. We have a few cows, some sheep, a labradoodle, one calico cat, and lots of wide open spaces for our children to roam. I enjoy making primitive needle punch, wool creations, and learning how to spin the wool from our sheep. Read more...

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Did you find my tips helpful?

If so, please feel free to buy me a coffee!


Post Categories

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