To Dye For.. purple basil and mint

This week I experimented with herbs as my source for natural dyes.  I had read that different herbs produced different colors so I thought I would give it a try.  At my local farmers market I found purple basil and mint and decided that was a good start.  Just like most natural dyes the plant material needs to be chopped up and simmered for 20 to 30 minutes.  After I added the chopped herbs to the pot I realized that it would be a good idea to contain them in a cheese cloth. Oh well, maybe next time.

Purple Basil.

Mint.

As the herbs simmered I cut my samples.  I love seeing how the dye reacts to different materials.  Most of these samples are cotton but some are blends.  The instructions say to presoak the fabrics but I never do, I will have to experiment in the future to see if it makes a difference.  Most people presoak in soda ash.

I made four sets of samples for the two dyes. Half way through I took out one of the samples out of each bath and added a mordant, alum, to see its effect on the dye. 

The final results produced a very subtle color. I really enjoy these soft colors, but it just depends on the application of the color. Not everything needs to be bold, and I'm a sucker for subtle shades of gray.

As you can see, the alum made a difference in the purple basil dye, enriching the purple. It's remarkable the similarities between the rest of the dyes. I would be interested the results in mixing herbs in the same pot to see what colors emerged.

Be Inspired. Be Bold. Be Natural.

peace &love

Rebecca

To Dye For.. red cabbage

Recently I've been really curious about natural dyes and after some research in have been amazed at the variety of natural resources that produce a wide range of colors.  Most of the natural dyes can be grown and most are probably already in your garden.  Others are compost dyes which are usually the skins or peels of different items, like onion skins, avocado skins and even coffee grinds.

I found this great head of cabbage at the local farmers market and thought this would be an easy dye to get started with.

With some research I learned that red cabbage dye does best with a mordant to keep the dye colorfast.  A simple mordant is alum and can be found in your cabinet, or the grocery store.  I also learned that modifiers could be used to alter the colors.  So I decided to do two batches, one with a modifier of salt and one without.

So I chopped up the cabbage into 1 inch chunks and filled the pots with water, I wasn't really measuring, just what looked like enough. I let this cabbage soup simmer for about 20 minutes, until the cabbage started loosing its color.  Towards the end is when I added the alum, about 1 1/2 tsp for each pot.

I then assembled my samples.  I was curious how the dye would react to different fabrics so I cut up a bunch of strips.

For my next project I want only the tips to be dyed so I rigged up this contraption with clips and string so the fabric pieces could be suspended in the dye.

After the dye is ready your supposed to strain out the cabbage but I left some in, to lazy to strain it out.  I suspended the fabric for about 20 minutes then turned of the heat and let it sit for a while.  At about the 15 minute mark I added the salt to one of the pots.  The salt was supposed to turn the dye more blue, but I did not really see a difference.  If citrus is added it should turn the dye more pink.

After I got to my desired color I took the fabric samples out the cool off then rinsed them out.  I was surprised to see this brilliant purple color emerge.  I almost didn't want to rinse it out, knowing most of the color would leave.

This is the final results, a beautiful lavender and tips dyed perfectly just as planned.  It's amazing that a simple produce item can produce such delicate blues.  I can't wait to see what colors other items in my garden can create!

Be Inspired. Be Bold. 

peace&love

Rebecca