How to dye wool fabric for wool applique or rug hooking

The evening before you will be dying your fabric you should take your felted wool fabric and section it into smaller pieces. If you use new wool (I usually buy my new wool in natural or white and I prefer the Door Mill wool fabric by the meter or by the yard in the US. I cut the fabric into fat quarters and depending on what I'm going to use it for I may cut it into smaller squares.

The second step can be skipped if you like, depending on how you want your dyed fabric to look. If you would like your fabric to be dyed to a uniform colour the you will need to do this. In a bowl large enough to hold enough water to cover your fabric place warm water and a drop of liquid dish soap. I usually use Palmolive but any will work. Once you have done this place your fabric in the bowl and let it soak overnight.

If you choose to skip this step that is fine but your dyed fabric will not be uniform and will come out mottled. If you are like me you will like this. I find it gives some texture to the fabric when dying a solid colour.

When you are ready to dye the fabric after soaking, drain the bowl and wring out the fabric. Flatten out the fabric and put aside.

Prepare your tools. You will need the following:

• Large Pot
• Latex or rubber gloves
• Acid dye (Pro chem or Jacquard are the ones that I know)
• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Wooded spoon
• White vinegar
• Timer

Take a large pot and fill it 3/4's full of water. Bring the water to a boil.

Mix a teaspoon of powdered acid dye into 2 cups of water. Mix until it is all dissolved.

Once the water in the pot has boiled add your dye mixture into it and bring it to a boil once again.

Once it is boiling add ¼ cup of white vinegar to the dye mixture . The vinegar acts as a setting agent. You could also use citric acid but vinegar is much easier to find at the local store.

Once it is boiling again add the wool fabric into the mixture one piece at a time. Please note that each piece of fabric will come out different intensity of the colour dependent on how long it's been in the dye bath.

Let the mixture with the fabric simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir the pot once or twice while it is simmering. Making sure that every part of the fabric is absorbing the dye.

After the fabric has simmered for 30 minutes dump the whole pot load into the sink and rinse the fabric with cold water. Wring out the fabric and you can either place it on towels or hang to dry. You could also stick it in the dryer.

You will notice the different colours I made from this pot of dye.

That's it, that's all. It's so easy!!!