Before I get into eco-dyeing, I thought I might test some other methods I've read about for dyeing white cotton thread. The first was using permanent markers.
Using markers definitely gives you more control of where and how much color you want to put on your thread. To get even coverage you have to color one side, flip the thread over and color the back. The colors look a bit different (my sky blue was more green on my base thread) and I couldn't manage an ombre-type fade, but otherwise it's fairly simple. I let the thread dry, and them gave it a bath.
That was when I learned that Sharpie marker colors can bleed.
I had another set of Bic permanent markers that actually had the two colors I want to use for my dyed thread, so I tried again.
Bic markers did not bleed at all.
This method is good if you only want to dye a small amount of thread, and you color bleed-test first. I think it would be a hassle (and the markers would probably run dry) to do a lot of thread this way.
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