We have made it to the most exciting week of the dye along – dyeing. Natural dyeing can seem like a lot of work and not a lot of fun when you are preparing fabric for dye. We all know how important the preparations are, but this week will be a bit more exciting as we see our fabrics take on color. Below, I first go over dyeing with powdered dyes, also called extracts, and then whole dye goods.
Natural Dye Extracts
Natural dye extracts are easy to use and yield great natural color on fabrics. With extracts, you can start a dye bath and add the fabric soon after. There are many different dye extracts available; you can buy these from online from stores such as Botanical Colors and Maiwa. Some of my favorite ones to use are cutch, pomegranate, and wattle – these are all available in the Natural Dye Kit 01.
Dyeing with Extracts – The Beginner’s Guide to Natural Dyeing gives clear directions for using powdered dye extracts. Also, read this blog post all about dyeing with cutch that gives step-by-step directions. To dye with powdered extracts:
- Weight out the suggested amount of dye extract and dissolve in a small cup of boiling water. Stir very well to ensure there is no streaking of fabric.
- Add this mixture to a dye pot along with more water so there is around 4 inches of water in your dye pot. Heat the dye pot up to around 180 degrees and hold for 30-60 minutes, checking the color.
- Remove the pot from heat. For some dyes (for example, cutch), the color will become much stronger by letting the pot sit for several hours. Add enough water for your fabric to have room to be fully submerged and move freely.
- Wet out your fabric by placing it in a tub of warm water. Let it sit in the water for at least 20 minutes. You will be able to see when you lift the fabric out of the water if there are places that are not wetted out as they will be less transparent than the fully wetted out spaces.
- Place wet fabric in the dye pot and fully submerge. Turn the heat back on and slowly bring the dye pot back to 180 degrees. Keep the fabric in the dye pot for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Turn off the heat and allow the pot to cool before removing the fabric and rinsing.
Dyeing with Whole Dye Goods
Dyeing with whole dye goods can take more time, but I am often very happy with the results. In general, I get a more even dye with whole dye goods and I like that in many cases these are the dye goods I am finding in my garden or food scraps.
This past week I dyed with both onion skins and Osage Orange wood chips. Osage Orange is a tree that grows in the Midwest and Great Plains area of the United States. It is easily grown and prized for its wood that bends, yet is durable – perfect for making bows. The wood chips yield a bright yellow to orange color depending on the preparation and type of fabric used. Other whole dye goods you could use include plant leaves (e.g. oak, aspen), roots (e.g. madder root), flowers (e.g. cosmos, marigolds, black hollyhocks), bark (e.g. birch, sumac), and food scraps (e.g. avocado pits and skins, pomegranate rinds, black beans). The steps for dyeing with whole dye goods is very similar to above except for the first steps.
Dyeing with whole dye goods – Whole dye goods will need more time for the dye to be extracted. Generally, the tougher the material you are using, the longer soaking and simmering will be necessary. A good rule of thumb I use is to simmer or soak your material until it has moved from floating on top of the water to resting on the bottom of the dye pot. Here are the steps for you:
- Weigh out the suggested amount of dye good. For whole dye goods, you will often use close to 100% WOF. In my example below, I used 100% WOF for onion skins. This does vary depending on dye good, so plan to use a dye journal to write down your results for future dye experiments.
- Place your dye good in a dye pot and add hot water so it is completely covered. If you are using a smaller item, you may want to place it in a mesh bag or cheesecloth pouch. If you are using roots, barks, or wood chips, let it sit in water at least overnight to soften before heating.
- Heat the dye pot up to around 180 degrees and hold for 60 minutes, checking the color. For tougher materials, two hours is recommended. However, for goods such as flowers 30-45 minutes is sufficient.
- Remove the pot from heat and allow it to sit for at least an hour or overnight. The color will become stronger.
- Remove the dye good with a strainer. Add enough water for your fabric to have room to be fully submerged and move freely.
- Wet out your fabric by placing it in a tub of warm water. Let it sit in the water for at least 20 minutes. You will be able to see when you lift the fabric out of the water if there are places that are not wetted out as they will be less transparent than the fully wetted out spaces.
- Place the wet fabric into the dye bath and fully submerge. Turn the heat back on and slowly bring the dye pot back to 180 degrees. Keep the fabric in the dye pot for 45 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally.
- Turn off the heat and allow the pot to cool before removing the fabric and rinsing.
My Dye Project
The first dye project for the dye along was a small Essex linen shirt I made for my son. This shirt was the Natural color in Essex linen which means it has not been dyed. And, I am here to tell you that it did not go at all as planned. If I am being honest, I was a bit annoyed about this. However, I have been preaching this whole dye along that natural dyeing is not an exact process with exact results. Mistakes happen, different colors arise, and it’s best to just go with it. So, here is what happened with my supposed to be bright yellow shirt that is now a pinkish brown.
First, I weighed out my dye good (onion skins) and simmered it for an hour. The next day, I strained the onion skins and dyed the shirt. It turned out just as I hoped. But then, I let it hang on the clothesline for 2 days and it faded. Natural dye does not like direct sunlight. However, it shouldn’t fade as much as my shirt did. In my irritation, I didn’t even take a picture, but it was more of a light orangeish yellow after fading. My guess is something went wrong with my mordant process. Since I already had a dye pot made with wattle, I simply decided I would overdye the shirt. Luckily I was in the midst of mordanting fabric, so I re-mordanted and dyed the shirt using wattle. It is not what I had in mind, but my little one was more than eager to wear it before it was even completely dry. I may be biased, but I think the color looks great on him. Maybe it was meant to be.
I hope as you dive into this week that you allow yourself some grace that mistakes will happen. Or maybe, everything will turn out just as beautifully as you had planned. Either way, I am so, so excited to see what you all dye up.
Looking Ahead
Next week, we will be discussing how to change your dye colors to allow for more range in your dyed fabric and after dyeing care of the fabric. Post pictures of your progress with the hashtag #naturaldyealong and tag me to be entered for a final prize of a new dye kit – Dye Kit 02. This dye kit is going to be bright and full of summer cheer! I will announce the winner of the fabric and mordant for weeks 1 and 2 this week on Instagram.
