Dying Aida Cloth

For those of you that cross stitch you’ll know how hard it is to get colored aida cloth in any size above 14. (For those of you who don’t cross stitch, aida cloth is the grid you stitch on and the higher the number the smaller the grid). I was looking for a 22 size black or navy, nearly impossible! But, but…it’s fairly easy to buy white 22 count Aida and any color of Rit dye you desire.

I am not very good at dying clothing or large items, but small items like a 15” x 18” piece of aida is a snap. I prefer the stovetop method for this, as the cloth would fray like crazy in the washer. Addtionally, on the stove you can control the depth of the color more easily.

For mine I used half a bottle of navy liquid Rit dye, 1 tbsp salt and a 4 Qt stock pot. This is more than enough to dye one piece of cloth, but I had a few dish towels to toss in as well. It’s a good way to add new life to stained white kitchen cloths.

Put your pot of water on to boil, and add your salt. 

When the water is at a good simmer, add your dye.

You don’t want the water to full boil, that could get messy. Just keep it near a simmer so it’s very hot.

Aida cloth is quite stiff when dry, it’s easier to work with if you wet it before adding it to the dye bath.

Use a metal spoon to stir your fabric around often. This prevents creases and uneven color.

Leave the fabric in until it’s a few shades darker than you’d like. Some dye will come out during the washing process. I left mine in about 20 minutes.

Straight out of the dye bath it looks very black. A few shades will wash out, bringing it to a dark denim color.

Since we aren’t wearing this, it doesn’t have to go through the washer. I wash it gently in the sink with a little clothes detergent and rinse till mostly clear.

Additionally, because it won’t be touching other fabrics (or ever be washed or handled after I stitch on it) I called this amount of remaining color good. I did put my dish cloths in the washer though since they lead busy lives haha.

Lay your cloth out to dry flat on a similar colored surface or an old towel, just in case it has any color transfer. It should dry overnight. As it dries it will become stiff again. With the wrinkles and light patterns it looks more blotched in the photos. In real life it has a couple irregularities, but is more uniform.

Since aida cloth is not finished on the edges you will get a minimal amount of fraying. You can reduce the fraying by being gentle while stirring and washing the cloth. Or you could stitch around the outside to limit fraying before dying.

Once dry, iron and use like normal. I left one dish cloth in the dye bath for about 20 minutes, and the other for 10 or less. You can play with your color depth as much as you please!