Tag: plant dye

26 Jun

Hawthorn Berries Three Rivers Dyed Silk

Amelia Hoskins / Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

Hawthorn Berries 1 - River Taw

Berries from Tarka Trail foraging trip along River Taw found by ditch and field growing through hazelnut and willow trees with briars and nettles.

Hawthorn (1) - Dye Bath Process

  • Soak berries for 2-3 days.
  • Boil then simmer for 1-2 hours.  Add water and re-simmer if evaporates.
  • Mash berries, remove pulp from dye pan.  Cool to hand hot.
  • Soak silk in dye bath pot overnight or for two days.
  • The longer soaked, the darker and stronger the colour.

Steeping in dye bath

Silk absorbs dye colour immediately, but some hours of soaking will deepen the tone.  Move silk occasionally to ensure all parts even

1st silk can be left in a bowl to dye stronger overnight, while keeping back some dye liquid to soak a 2nd piece, which will have a paler result.

Hawthorn Berries 2 - River Otter - Dye Process

Soak berries and simmer as Hawthorn (1).  Two silk samples were added to dye liquid when cooled and soaked in a wide copper pot for a day and a night. One was cream. The other was dull pale grey (failed woad dyed piece) which resulted in a browner result. (Colour mixing: grey + hawthorn = brown)

Comparisons - Rivers Taw - River Otter berries

Taw berries result is golden.  Otter berries result is dull fawn.  Unknown whether the different river soils affected the dye colour, or if the copper pot had an effect, which is likely.

Hawthorn Berries 3 - River Exe - Dye Process

Hawthorn Berries River Exe Sessions1,2,3,4 give 4 colour variations

Silk 1 - Lime green.   Silk 2 - Medium mauve.   Silk 3 - Silver.  Silk 4 - Pale peach

Fascinating variations obtained by use of mordants, or washing out methods, or how fresh or old/exhausted the dye bath becomes.

Exe Berries - Ahimsa Silk 1. Mauve turns Green

Large long piece of silk soaked a few hours in pre-mordanting Alum beforehand.

Good Mauve result.  Washed out in tap water, with added soap. Turned GREY, then gradually GREEN!  (Far left)

Was it the tap water?  Was it the soap?

Exe Berries - Ahimsa Silk 2.

Two dress top shapes. NO premordant alum.

Steeped 24hrs in remainder dye bath pink sludgy liquid.

Washed out in tap water - stayed a medium MAUVE. (presume due to no alum).

Exe Berries - Ahimsa Silk 3.

One long silk piece with a hem.

Placed in previous dye bath (1. and 2.)

Turned mauvish, but dried out SILVER! (Right)

Exe Berries - Ahimsa Silk 4.

Silk pre-mordanted with Alum and Cream of Tartar.

Cider vinegar from pre-soaked apple peels added to dye bath.

Placed liquid and fabric in copper pot.

Result overnight - pale peach.

11 Nov

Silk dyed with Comfrey leaves

Amelia Hoskins / Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

Comfrey leaves give a cream or light beige colour, good for painting on.  Adding iron, gives a dulled greyed mushroom cream.  Comfrey leaves get mushy after boiling.

Alum is a standard means of pre mordanting fabric, to help dye absorption.  Soaking in soya is another.  Alum dissolves in water, before silk is added and soaked for an hour or overnight before dying.

I used this dye session to experiment with shibori: stitching through layers with embroidery skeins, wrapping thread tightly at intersections.  It worked but the result was too pale to notice any difference where the dye resisted.  Iron was added to the dye bath after first pigment had taken up.

Silk looks dark when wet, after iron water added to dye bath, but dried many shades lighter.  Good as a pale mushroom colour.  Shibori stitching was diagonally across weft and warp.  Pale dyes dont give the contrast seen on darker dyes.  I used only cotton thread, which did not resist much dye stuff.  Soya wax could have been brushed on the diagonal lines, to give a slight resist.  Thicker waxed thread ought be tried.

Plain comfrey dyed portion of sample

Darker comfrey + iron dyed section sample

Adding iron to comfrey dye bath turns grey green, and leaving silk submerged longer, results in a very good khaki or green-gold colour.

16 Sep

Alder Tree Cone Dye

Amelia Hoskins / Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

Alder cones in Exeter

Cones form on lower branches of the alder tree, first greenish, changing through to brown by late summer. Usually reachable just above head height.  Often seen laying on grass around the base of the tree, clumped on sprigs.

They have good keeping qualities when box full collected.

Produces a pale earthy beige; very useful for painting on to.

Alder Cone dye result on Habotai silk

15 Sep

Walnut Husks Dyed Silk

Amelia Hoskins / Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

Walnut Husks Dye Process

  • Walnut husks were soaked for several days before boiling up and simmering until liquid was very dark brown.
  • Remove husks and decant liquid to bowl.
  • Add wet silk pieces. I used Ahimsa silk.
  • Agitate frequently then soak overnight
  • Silk takes up the brown dye bath quickly but keep turning and agitating occasionally while soaking. (I don't boil Ahimsa silk as it would roughen surface) Soaking is adequate for obtaining a reasonable colour.
  • A secondary dying of another piece of Ahimsa silk produced a lighter shade of the brown.

There is a lot of pigment left in the dye bath which can be stored in jars or used for additional fabrics.  Fill to brim to avoid mould forming. It could also be used to add to jars of cream/gold dyes to strengthen tone.  At this stage it would be good to investigate what might be added to the bath, to change the colour of what pigment is left.  I was tempted to add some madder dyestuff for a dark red (purchased, not foraged), and this remains to be tested.

Silk Samples of Gold Variations

Walnut dyed silk is the darkest obtained so far of the beige and golds range, turning out to be a light coffee brown/bronze colour.  It might have gone darker still on Habotai silk.  The Ahimsa silk used, is cotton-like in feel, thicker, and although absorbs well, slightly slower.

Walnut Tree

Walnuts were found on the ground where they had had been decaying under a walnut tree on Bossington Green, Porlock, North Somerset.

21 Aug

Logwood Dyed Silk

Amelia Hoskins / Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

Experimental shibori and batik on Logwood dyed silk - 1st Trial

Logwood (in bought dried form) was found to easily produce a very deep violet dye on Ahimsa silk.  Note: Less dye stuff would produce lilac and mauves.  Shibori stitching outlining butterfly showed clearly in white where dye penetration was resisted.

Batik wax originally painted on the silk was overcome by dye, remaining strong aubergine.  To create a contrast to bring out shapes, I outlined in transparent gutta the shapes intended in the design (to be coloured). I used craft 'fabric bleach' to brush on some areas, such as banana leaves.  A second steaming produced the intended shapes in a lighter aubergine, which would be interesting to explore further.

Colour added to simple images copied from a textile, as experiment.  This piece was unfortunately burnt in steaming (water pot went dry), and was cut into strips and used in another garment.

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2nd Batik Experiment

Double stitched outlines of images, as shibori test.  Batik wax painted quite heavily onto ahimsa silk, with daubing stiff paint brush, to create a cellular texture.  The shibori threads were pulled tight before dying.  Washing out, the wax had held.  Ironed over wax several times with strong brown paper to absorb wax, then rubbing off the bees wax in warm soapy water.  Texture remained to start painting on.

2nd Trial result produced a pleasant textured background to overpaint on.  Fabrics were chosen to coordinate, and use as a colour guide.

Rectangular design was a simple test with the batik, creating a usable textured background to over painting with brighter colours.  This rectangle was used in a dress Butterflies and Pansies  panel front.  Flowers were also embroidered.

21 Aug

Mullein Dyed Silk

Amelia Hoskins / Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

Mullein gold colour is not from the flowers, but the LEAVES.

Soak before, and simmer mullein leaves to release colour



Boiled leaves removed. Silk added to brown dye.



Ahimsa Silk absorbs mullein leaf dye well. It dries much lighter than it first appears.



The longer silk is left in a strong dye bath the more colour it may absorb, for a stronger and deeper colour.  This looked dark, and I washed it out, but it could have been darker if left over night.  A small piece of silk will not be able to absorb all the dye, so a secondary piece can be added later.

I may not have used a mordant (such as alum), as colour dried light gold beige.  A good neutral background for painting on.

Many plants produce a dye for cream, beige, or gold;  which is very useful background for silk painting on, rather than stark white. Intensity varies.  More antique tone can be achieved by adding ferrous water to the dye bath. (iron - made from rusty nail water). Other metals could be experimented with.  Copper will have an effect.  Making the dye bath in copper pan has an effect.

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

Tansy dyed silk

Amelia Hoskins / Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

Images to add from dye baths. (missing error)

Silk soon absorbs the dye colour in the strong Tansy dye bath. As this silk can be matted slightly by over heating, and simmering, I only introduce it to a hand hot dye bath. I left it soaking overnight to achieve best strength of colour before rinsing out several times in warm water, until water runs clear.

Wet rinsed silk - drying. Do not squeeze out too hard, or twist creases may occur which don't completely iron out. In summer silk dries fairly quickly and can be ironed smooth while still slightly damp before any creases set in.

A few dark 'spots' are splashes from another dye bath with iron I was doing simultaneously. Only do ONE dye bath at a time.

Ahimsa silk used here, has a different texture to Habotai smooth silk; has thickness of a cotton shirt, but hangs very loose and soft, similarly to viscose. I use offcuts from a fashion company. Its easy to sew and embroider on; as well as silk painting.

This lime yellow is very vivid (see comparisons with other gold colours), so I will overpaint with silk dyes or bundle leaf prints. However, it could be useful to over-dye with madder to give a good orange, or with woad for a turquoise blue. The future life of this piece will be posted here....

See more and others' dye procedures on my Natural Plant Dye Pinterest Board.

Post script.../ This lime yellow was over-dyed in November, used for another test with sycamore leaves bundle-dyeing; I didn't think I would use a bright lime yellow, but must replace as a sample.

22 May

Ladies bedstraw Dyed Silk

Amelia Hoskins / Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

Bedstraw is found in waste ground and near the coast. The reddish roots are used for dyeing; family is Madder (Rubiaceae) a well known red dye. The plant I found is growing along the Tarka Trail cycle path (ex rail track) opposite the small town of Bideford, N. Devon. Not easy to pull out the roots, and many were left for next year's growth. This seemed a particularly large and well established plant. Bedstraw has many herbal uses.

The roots have a strong pigment towards red-brown.  As the dye bath reduced, I noticed a good pinky red forming on the sides of the pan; possibly due to being aluminium; it may have absorbed the pink element of 'red', giving way to a more browny-peachy colour, even so a very bright peach from the strongest 1st soaking.

Ladies Bedstraw - Amazingly bright ruddy peach silk after removal from dye bath and rinsing

1st Bedstraw dyed silk sample has been pre-mordanted in Alum for a day before putting to soak in hand hot dye bath.  Although the roots were boiled up to release dye, boiling Ahimsa silk roughens it, so it was immersed in only a 'hot' bath.  Plant dye is often absorbed with no heating.

2nd Bedstraw dyed silk sample in cooled dye bath which was reheated with bedstraw to obtain more dyestuff.  Red dye liquid is drained off into glass bowl to soak silk.  Steam iron while still damp to help smooth out creases, or don't squeeze out all water.  Paler colours can be obtained by adding to remaining dye bath while some pigment remains unabsorbed.

Lady's Bedstraw Ahimsa silk results: 1st soak strong peach - 2nd soak light peach.

These samples will be matched with recycled fabric prints, and painted on before becoming part of a new garment; which will be added to this post in due course....

See more and others' dye procedures on my Natural Plant Dye Pinterest Board.

Images copyright Amelia Jane Hoskins Please email for use permission.