Monday, October 6, 2008

Ready, set, dye and giveaway!

Grab your coffee and your good 'ol DMC.Some paper towels and a spoon.You won't believe how easy this is!
 Drip very small amounts of coffee onto floss.
Let Dry.This is where I break out the hair dryer because I'm impatient.After it's dry, you can repeat the process if you want spots with deeper color.
DMC blanc, top
DMC ecru, bottom
Done!!! (Ecru, left. Blanc, right.)
Pat yourself on the back because you just saved $$$!!! I know some of you stitchers out there pay a ridulous amount for DMC. So, I'll send 3 people 4 skeins each of DMC(2 ecru, 2 white)so that youcan do a little coffee-spot-dyeing without breaking the bank. Please leave a comment on this post only AND be sure to say that you want to be in the drawing! One of the kiddos will draw names over the weekend :) Good Luck!

46 comments:

Celeritas said...

I would love to be in the draw! It would be fun to stitch with this.

Would the DMC be colorfast?

Angela said...

What a fantastic idea Staci! I'd love to be included in the draw. Thanks!

Lisa said...

That is too cool - I bet you could do that with other natural dyes.

Kim B said...

Thanks for the instructions!! Good luck everyone with the draw!

Barb said...

Awesome dye job. Ran out of oatmeal GAST the other day and wasn't even liking the way it stitched up anyway. Wish I had thought of this!

Theresa said...

I bet the threads not only looks good, but also smells good as well~~ I think I'm going to try some myself~~

Tama said...

Oh - that looks great! I've been wanting to do a snowman that takes an ecru overdyed floss, but I couldn't afford the several skiens needed - I can't wait to try this! Thank you!!!

Aussie Stitcher said...

That is a wonderful idea and it stitches up great also. Please include me in the draw Staci and thanks for your generosity.

Rowyn said...

Wow, I'm going to give that a go at some stage - that's so easy but so effective. Thanks for the lesson.

Lillie said...

You are so creative Staci. Thank you for a great instruction. I will definately try this out sometime :)

Ulla said...

This is a great idea! Please enter me in the drawing.

Carol R said...

Thanks for the great photos of the steps for coffee dyeing and you get to drink the coffee afterwards!
Please enter me into your draw.

(Come on kiddo draw my name)

Shari said...

what an awesome idea! I have used coffee for fabrics, but never have I tried floss. I would love to be entered in your contest! Thanks in advance!

Annie said...

I think even I could do that kind of dying. I'm always very messy with liquids so I usually stay away from that. Think you could use vanilla or hazel-nut and create floss for an aromatic sachet?

Anyway, good luck to the contestants. I have access to inexpensive floss so I'll leave the contest to those who can benefit most.

JillMN said...

Thanks for the great tip. I am going to be trying this one. DMC is 3/$.99 at Joann's this week. I will have to go stock up on white and ecru.

Annemarie said...

That is a fantastic idea and I wonder why it tookso long for someone to come up with his? We do this with fabric all the time yet the floss was forgotten. Congratulations on a fabulous idea.
I'm off to make some coffe. And not because I need my fix :o)

Nicki said...

What a fantastically great idea! Those colours would look gorgeous on a dark brown or red fabric. I'd love to go in the draw please :)

Nancy said...

Very clever! I don't pay a ridiculous amount for DMC, but I would love to be entered in your drawing.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Being a coffee fan, I could never imagine something like that!
Maybe my Nespresso capsules could help me out :-) !!
I want to be part of that giveaway (but if you think Portugal is to far away nevermind).
Best regards

Anonymous said...

That is a great idea for the floss! I just stitched a Halloween Pumpkin by Country Stitches that required coffee staining of the finished piece. Once you had the staining to your preference, you "baked" it in the oven at 250 degrees until it was dry (about 7 minutes). That would probably work to dry the floss as well.

I have DMC available to me at reasonable prices so please exclude me from the drawing. But I will certainly be trying your idea! Thank you! Beth

Barbara J said...

What a marvelous tip! Thanks so much for sharing :)

Dora said...

What great directions. Thanks for taking the time. I've done that to fabric....never thinking to try floss LOL. Include me in the drawing, please

Michele said...

as much coffee as I drink, you think I would have done this once or twice by accident! lol .. thanks for the visuals! I think I'm going to make sure for this freebie .. it's about 1/2 down the page ...
http://plumstreetsamplers.typepad.com/plum_street_samplers/freebie/

my dmc is dirt cheap .. good luck to everyone in the drawing!

Sherry said...

What a great idea and I am always willing to try something that is easy! Thanks so much for sharing!

Tammy said...

Your stitching and knitting is just fabulous! Love how you did your dyeing--came out great!

Margaret said...

Ah Staci, your tutorials are always wonderful. I am definitely going to try this as coming from New Zealand I know that sheep are not white - they are DMC ecru spot died with coffee!!! And sometimes they are just plain old dirty :-) I am going to try this for certain sure.

mainely stitching said...

I'd never thought about doing this with floss - brilliant!!!

tkdquintmom said...

I just noticed your Christmas stitches...wonderful. Ok missy, can you do that coffee thingy that you did with the floss...can you do that with fabric too??? hmmmmmm....the absent minded want to know...lol

Solstitches said...

So that's the secret of hand dyed threads - who would have thought it could be so easy!
I'd love to be in your draw please. DMC is a crazy price in Spain.

Vanessa said...

Yes, include me in the drawing. What a great idea. I am sure you could use tea as well and any other natural item from home. Thanks for the idea!
Vanessa in Upstate NY
butterflyjones03@yahoo.com

Stephanie said...

Wow, how simple, yet how effective! I have always been to chicken to try and dye something myself (especially with coffee, ha ha) but I may just have a go this weekend - I only have time to make coffee at the weekend ;) No need to enter me in the draw, I have a very cheap and cheerful source for DMC, the postage would cost you more than the skeins!!

Julie said...

Loving this! Thanks for the idea!
I do not need to be entered in the drawing, but thanks for sharing your threads with others.

Anonymous said...

Pleae enter me in the drawing!!
Thanks so much!!

Ellen Sharp

SandraRee said...

Staci, you're something else! What a clever idea! And I just love your husband's art in your previous post as well as your stitching of course! Such talent! I've gotten so many compliments on the PIF floss tag you sent me! :D No need to enter me, I’m a slow stitcher so I’ve got plenty of floss to last me a loooong time! lol

Gabi said...

What a great idea that is Staci. Never thought about that myself. I would love it to be included in the draw. :)

Gladys Creativa said...

Wow! great idea! thank you veru much!

Hazel said...

Woot!! Count me in! I love that! xx

temari by the sea said...

great idea!

kimstitch3 said...

wow, how clever of you I shouldnt be surprised by this though, you are pretty neat when it comes to making stuff. I always look forward to your next craft thing you come up with.lol. I would love to enter your draw. Take care and thanks for the chance,Kimberly In TN

WendyJo said...

Thanks so much Staci for the tutorial. This is awesome! I will have to give this a try!! You are so creative!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Thanks fro sharing your dying process!

Stitchingranny said...

I have so wanted to try this for ages and you have made it look just so so easy.

I would love to be in your draw and as you say thread here in the UK is expensive but even so win or not I am determined to have a go now.

Crazee4books said...

Hi Staci,

Whenever I visit your blog I just
know that there will be something
special that you've done which
will make me smile.

Your dying of the white DMC to
make the spotty Ecru thread was brilliant, and it looks wonderful on your Xmas sheep. Who needs expensive threads when you can do something like this? This is a
really cute design, by the way.

The Halloween tag that Annie
stitched for you is too funny!
I would never have thought to
stitch those colours of threads on that colour of fabric, but
they really look great on it.

Your knitting projects are really
Fall inspired I think. I love
your new comfy cardigan, both in
style and because of the colour.
And your cowl and fingerless mitts
are a gorgeous pumpkin colour.
And the socks are so pretty too.
Who taught you to knit?? I'd love
to learn, but was born with ten
thumbs, and I can't really afford
another hobby right now anyways.

Wonder what tea would do to white
DMC thread?? We don't drink
coffee in this house.

Cheers!

Donna said...

I accidently found out how cool this is to do. I dropped an entire cup of Starbucks coffee in my car. Luckily I had 3 balls of dmc thread on the floor board (why they were there, I don't know). They absorbed much of the coffee. When they dried, they were the most wonderful color, ranging from light to dark! LOL!
Donna

Carla said...

Great idea!! Thanks for sharing :)

mimimira said...

I've never dyed threads, I've only tried with fabrics. Thanks for the idea and the instructions!