Adventures in Natural Dyeing: Part I

We've been having so much fun trying out different techniques for making our own fabrics! We've tried printing, Inkodye, fabric fun pens, photo transfers and home dyeing. Recently we tried out natural dyeing for the first time! Natural dyeing is using items found in nature (fruits, vegetables, insects, etc.) to color fabrics. It can be a lot of fun but the results are often quite inconsistent. We consulted our friend Missy about what items to try first and she suggested onions—so we did along with beets. Here's how it all went down:1. Choose items that are made of natural fibers (like cotton, wool, bamboo). I used a thrifted denim skirt and a homemade jersey scarf. 2. Pre-treat the garment(s) in a mordant. There are different kinds of mordant treatments but I mixed hot water (enough for my fabrics to move freely in) with 2 teaspoons alum and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar for 1 hour. 3. Chop up your vegetables and simmer them in hot water for 1 hour. Strain out most of the veggies and add your fabric. I let mine soak in the hot water (as it cooled) for about 5 hours. 4. Rinse garment(s) and then soak in a vinegar wash; using 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water for 20-30 minutes. Hand wash and dry. While the yellow onion skirt turned out really pretty our beet jersey scarf was a fail. Bummer! Since we used the exact same method for both this was very surprising. It may be that brighter/deeper colors need to soak in the dye bath longer. Also, since we had made the jersey scarf from scratch we had not washed the fabric prior to dying (while the thrifted skirt had been washed many times before). So that may have also contributed to how to the color didn't take well. Live and learn!Thanks for letting us share our first adventures with natural dyeing. We are hoping to try out some different techniques and natural dyeing materials soon—it's fun learning something new! If you have done your own natural dyeing experiments and have any tips or suggestions you'd like to share let us know. xo. emma and elsie

Comments

[Lindsay]

So neat! :) I've never tried it. The skirt looks great. Too bad the scarf didn't turn out :( ♥

[Chantal Hanna]

What a cute skirt.....I have never tried dying so please excuse my next questions naivity...but does it not smell of onions?

[Tania]

Cool! I'll try with some other natural options and let you know!! :)

Greetings from Madrid. When are you planning to visit us???

[Miranda]

Oh wow! I never even knew you could dye things with onions! Looks awesome!!!
-Miranda
http://paperthoughsfabricdreams.blogspot.com

[Paola]

I tried dying with tea and it turned out great! You get a subtle colour depending on how long you leave the fabric in the dye bath.

[Samantha Williamson]

I did this as part of my first year at University, I do Textile Crafts so we did a rotation in Dye and Print, it was loads of fun! :) we tried so many different natural dyes and i got some really good results! i don't know if you did this or not but putting salt in to the dye helps to absorb the colour on to the fabric a lot better :) and it definitely depends on how long you leave the fabric in the dye bath for. If you need any help choosing some good dyes, i can let you know some of the dyes that worked best for me!. i love your DIY posts, i cant wait to get going on a few! :) xx

[Ester]

I gotta confess I had no idea there was such a thing as natural dying! wow I'm in awe! thanks for sharing :)

[Tinacious.Me]

very cute! what a neat idea!
http://www.tinacious.me

[Crochetblogger]

Super fun! A book worth checking out for natural dyeing is Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes by Rebecca Burgess. It's got tons of great ideas for what to use to dye, how to dye with different things and sourcing natural dye sources in your area.

[Zoe]

I love dying with natural dyes, I did a section on it while doing my degree in textile design.

Zoe
http://gypsiesister.blogspot.com

[Val]

Cool!

Val
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/

[Natasha Fatah]

Cute idea guys.
Not sure if the execution of THIS particular one worked out. It looks either a tiny bit dirty...or a former yellow skirt that seems to have faded. Maybe a different colour would work better?

xoxo
http://natashafatah.com

[Ren Lady Of The Arts]

The skirt turned out so well- we just got back from a month long trip in Guatemala and I was fascinated with all the naturally dyed textiles the woman made- If you are interested here is a link to a post I did about natural dyes from Guatemala.

http://ladyofthearts.blogspot.com/2012/04/natural-dyes-in-guatemala.html

[Miss K]

Looks great. Love the colour.

[Lauren]

One thing that helps natural dyes hold fast in (natural) fabrics is mordanting/pre-dying them with a rhubarb leaf tea first. While the leaves are poisonous to eat, the very same element that is toxic helps to bind colors to animal and plant fibers. After you rinse the tea out and let the piece you intend to color dry, you're good to go with the vegetable/plant dyes.

Plus it's a great way to use up all those leaves from rhubarb harvests in the spring!

(And because I think you'd love the results, carrot greens give an awesome chartreuse color...)

[sandra lund]

how fun! I've dyed a lot, but never with natural thing, it might be worth a try. Thanks:-)

[rory]

that is so cool! Where do you come up with such fun ideas??? You're crazy and it's awesommme :)
Rory
www.WearAboutsBlog.com

[Gabbie]

I've heard Kool-Aid dyes really well! Haven't been able to try it myself yet, but you should give it a shot!

[Sue May]

interesting, never thought that onions could be used as a natural dye . . . just curious, will the clothes have an oniony smell? Thanks for the post!

[Mrs. Baker]

that's pretty cool! i love the skirt!

http://babybakerlove.blogspot.com/