Category: Dyes

10 Sep

All Natural Plant Dye Processes

Amelia Hoskins / Dye Workshop / / 0 Comments

CREAM  -  GOLD  -  BLUE   on Ahimsa Silk

 

 

 

Most plant dyes produce cream or gold, dyed cold or hot.  They can be modified to turn darker and some modified to turn green. Mordants are used to soak silk in first.  Modifiers are used after dye.  Blue is only achieved with English Woad.

 

Silk dyed: St. Johns Wort - Woad light - Woad bright - Rosemary - St Johns Wort with iron - Tansy - Hawthorn

Dyed samples:     Logwood purple - Eucalyptus deep gold - Woad blue - Mullein light gold - Woad blue - Hawthorn gold beiges - Iron modified - Ladies Bedstraw orange

Flora Arbuthnot's Dye Workshop

My dye experiments were inspired by first workshop attended.  We foraged locally for leaves and bark. Flora taught us about mordants to soak fabric in prior to dyeing.  See samples on Post.

Flora Arbuthnot's Bundle Dye Workshop

Bundle dyeing by steam was a quick workshop at a garden festival. Petals and seeds were spread on cloth, sprayed with vinegar, folded in tightly wrapped bundles and suspended over steaming pot.  Excellent results for backgrounds, seen on this Post background.  See samples on Post.

22 May

Bundle Dyeing Seeds and Flowers Workshop

Amelia Hoskins / Dye Workshop / / 0 Comments

Bundle dyed silk samples were created at Flora's Bundle Dye Workshop in Forde Abbey Gardens

Bundle Dyed Silk Samples

Silk and cottons are covered in seeds, petals and powdered roots; then sprayed with vinegar, then folded up into angular folds, before tying up into stringed bundles.  Bundles are hung over the side of a large boiling pot of water.

Bright pigment result from steaming seeds (such as Hopi sunflower), petals (such as dahlia) and dried root (such as madder or logwood).

Drying out unwrapped silk bundles

Authors Samples –  I chose mostly pink and lilac dyestuffs which I tried to arrange in circular patterns, but this process is completely unpredictable.  Next time it would be interesting to make dyestuff arrangements in circular tied bundles or with elastic, similar to tie dye techniques, form snowflake type designs.

22 May

Flora’s Plant dye foraging workshop

Amelia Hoskins / Dye Workshop / / 0 Comments

Foraging by a river for plants and trees that we can use in dye baths, with and without mordants (which make colours stronger); easily dye cotton, linen and silk.

Boiling and simmering leaves, twigs, and other dry stored dye plants after measuring out appropriate weight per fabric weight.  Flora used same weight as fabric.

Ahimsa silk with Oak Gall dye, plus cotton lace.

Ahimsa silk with Madder 'fold and crunch'.

My own samples from the workshop:  Dye resist method: Fold diagonally and clamp.

Oak gall gives a good deep old gold, for antiqued applications.  The piece of cotton lace also dyes very well with oak galls.  RIGHT:  Scarlet result on Ahimsa silk; previously soaked in soya milk, folded and clamped in triangles along folded strips, to create 'resist' of penetration of madder dye. Smaller Habotai silk scrunched and rubber band tied, to create abstract, cosmic or marbled effect.  This could be interesting over-dying again and again, to create a multi layered marbled effect.

Cream, bright yellow and ocre achieved with Alder plant matter, leaves and twigs.  Centre brighter yellow linen piece was soaked in soya milk, as a pre process mordant.  Its a little too bright for my taste so I would use without mordant.  The pale cream lace is also with nettle dye bath, in reality a very subtle dark cream, with hint of yellow-green.  Subsequent home dying with alder producex a light beige.

Madder pink stripes achieved by folding fabric and using rubber bands to keep tight, preventing dye penetrating fabric. Cotton lace rolled and 2 rubber bands used to achieve resist un-dyed stripes.

Flora's workshops can be booked at her website:

Images copyright Amelia Jane Hoskins Please email for use permission.