Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Happy Independence Day!

My post today is not about fireworks, picnics or parades…
it’s about the magic in my dye pots…

Natural dyeing…or as I prefer to call it Plant Dyeing is a SLOW process, often spanning several days. I want to coax every bit of loveliness nature has to offer out of each plant.

To begin, I mordant the wool in alum and cream of tartar, then wash and dry it to have ready for the gardens bounty. I harvest a bit each day and save until enough for a dye run. A good ratio of plant material to wool is 1:1…so to dye a fat quarter of wool it takes about 3 to 4 ounces of plant material…that’s a lot of blossoms;) The 1st run gives rich, saturated colors. Subsequent runs yield softer values that sometime shift in color. Playing with modifiers often dramatically… magically changes things.


I’ll be back soon with results from run #3

Wishing you a magical, safe and happy 4th
~ Laurie

3 comments:

  1. I love zinnia's! Great color out of the marigolds.
    Cathy

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  2. what beautiful hues! I stumbled upon your blog from a friend we have in common,, Blog friend,, I have enjoyed creating my own dyes, for fabric and yarn, I have joined to follow you so I can read your past posts and keep up with your beautiful work,

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