Woolrealm

Easter is coming - create unique Easter decorations from wool!

Easter is the perfect time to decorate your home and bring warmth and atmosphere. Why settle for plastic decorations when you can make your own unique felted Easter eggs? Wool is a natural material that adds softness and personality to your decor - and best of all, felted eggs last year after year!

This is how I felted and dyed Easter eggs with onion skins

Felting: I started by felting egg-shaped pieces using the needle felting technique - a process very similar to the making felt balls, but the shape is oval.

I made two eggs. The light eggs seemed too simple, so I wanted to add something special. Since I made these eggs for myself, I let my creativity take over without any pressure on the final result. I decided to make small spots on the white wool with cotton fibres. Note: Needed for felting cotton fine felting needle, as a coarse needle will get stuck in it.

Getting the white spots to stand out on the white background was a challenge, but it was intentional - I planned to colour the eggs with onion skins. Since cotton requires a different dye than wool, I thought that after dyeing the spots would stand out more clearly.

Wool dyeing with onion skins and ecological dyeing

Dyeing wool with natural materials is a traditional and ecological way to achieve beautiful, harmonious shades without the use of synthetic chemicals. Onion skins are one of the easiest and most common natural dyes that can be used to dye both wool and fabric.

Why onion skins?

• They give beautiful warm tones: yellow, golden brown, orange and even reddish.
• Dyes stick well to wool fibres.
• Onion skins are readily available and cost practically nothing - they are waste material!
• The dyeing process is non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

How to dye wool with onion skins?

1️⃣ Collect onion skins - both yellow and red onion skins are fine. The more peels, the deeper the colour.
2️⃣ Prepare the colour broth - boil the peels in water for about an hour. You can let the broth stand longer to intensify the colour.

3️⃣ Pre-treat wool - wool can first be bleached (i.e. treated with substances that help the colour to adhere). The most common natural bleaching agent is alum, which is added to about 5-10 % of the dry weight of the wool.

4️⃣ Dyeing process - immerse the wool in the dye bath and leave to infuse on low heat for about an hour. Longer time gives a deeper colour.
5️⃣ Cooling and flushing - allow the wool to cool in the broth and then rinse it thoroughly, first with warm and then with cool water. A vinegar rinse can help the colour to set better.

You can also dye other felt products and wool using this technique!

🌿 Tip! The dyeing result may vary depending on the quality of the wool, the decomposition and the intensity of the broth. With natural dyeing, each batch is unique - that's the magic!

In addition to the eggs and nest, I made cute little birds using needle felting. If you want to learn how to make such birds yourself, I have online course, where you will learn everything you need to know! You can also get a package of materials, which contains everything you need to make a bird.

---