How-to: Overdye Upcycled Felted Wool to Create Custom Colors

felted wool Christmas trees overdyed greenNotice that my trees still aren’t a perfect, uniform green, but that wasn’t the result that I was after. When you overdye a piece, you’re never certain exactly what color you’ll come up with in the end. But with careful forethought and a judicious hand in the dye pot, you can absolutely use overdyeing to mask an offensive color and turn it into something far more appealing to your eye.

5 thoughts on “How-to: Overdye Upcycled Felted Wool to Create Custom Colors”

  1. Thank you for sharing this technique. I’m wondering since the trees were rinsed and not washed, if there would be a problem w/color fastness…would the overdye bleed if they were placed on a tablecloth or other cloth surface? This is definitely a technique I will consider as I am rummaging through old wool sweaters!

    1. There would be a problem with color-fastness if the trees got wet. Three solutions:
      1) Whenever possible, overdye your felted wool before you create with it. I only overdyed a finished project because it was a craft emergency!
      2) If it’s a decorative object, like my felted wool trees on a cloth tablecloth, glue something waterproof to the bottom of the object, such as a piece of an old plastic grocery bag.
      3) Hand-wash the object, which will allow you to completely rinse away excess dye as well as keep the finished object sound.

  2. Pingback: Crafting a Green World | Crafty Christmas Projects for Upcycling Old Sweaters | Page: 1 | Crafting a Green World

  3. Pingback: Wool Felt Thread and Felting –wool challenge « easy sewing projects, beginner sewing projects, sewing techniques, tips on sewing,

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