{"id":4330,"date":"2020-04-23T13:44:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T20:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.textileindie.com\/?p=4330"},"modified":"2023-10-09T13:16:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T20:16:13","slug":"how-make-natural-dyes-from-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.textileindie.com\/how-make-natural-dyes-from-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Natural Dyes From Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Natural dyeing includes: Scouring fibers strips them of oils and dirt. Mordant with a metal salt or a protein to assist in the absorption of the potential plant pigments. Extracting the dye from the plants. Allowing the fiber to soak in the dye to absorb the pigments. Rinsing the dyed material and drying it carefully to preserve the color.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to make beautiful natural dyes from leaves, flowers, nuts, roots, bark and more<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What are natural dye<\/strong>s?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How to make natural dyes from plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural dyeing is the art of taking organic materials, extracting color from those materials, and applying the color to fiber, yarn, or cloth. The color adheres to the fibers of the material and transforms it into a beautiful piece of art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural dyes are somewhat unpredictable, and each one acts in unique ways. Some natural dyes are lightfast; they maintain their color even after prolonged exposure to sunlight. Some natural dyes are fugitive, meaning they will slowly fade over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joy of dyeing naturally comes in the experimentation, the unknowns, the crafting of a color. It is an art form that takes patience and diligence, but also a free spirit and sense of creativity and flexibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plants are full of life and interest. Not only does a plant grow from a tiny little seed, but then it helps to clean our air, develop fruits, veggies, or other eatables. For the natural dyer, it also opens a world of possibilities for color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here I want to share the details on how to make beautiful natural dyes from all kinds of natural materials. This post is an in-depth overview of the process of natural dyeing with more specific details to come in future articles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why natural dye?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many reasons to try your hand at natural dyeing. I will touch on a few key points I believe have impacted why I like to use natural dyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural dyeing is holistic<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Natural dyeing allows the artist to take part in the preparation of the dye bath as well as the dyeing process. When using a chemical dye, you stir powder into water, and at the right time, you place your fiber, yarn, or fabric into the dye bath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With natural dyeing, there is broader participation in the creation of the dye bath. It can be as extreme as planting your dye plants and harvesting them in the right season or merely purchasing a purple cabbage from the grocery store, chopping it up, and going through the dying process with raw materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joy of working with plants<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While you don\u2019t have to have a garden and grow all your dye plants to work with natural dyes, there is the potential to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year I planted my first batch of madder (a plant whose roots create a beautiful red-orange dye result). It’s a long-term investment because the roots take two to three years to mature. These and a few other dye plants will give me not only the joy of dyeing with them when they are ready to harvest, but also the beauty of their blooms, color, and greenery in my garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovering what the world around us can do<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We’re surrounded by an amazing natural world of plants, trees, fungi, bugs, animals, so many living organisms that we often take for granted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning the properties of the plants around us can give us a better appreciation for the world we live in and the capabilities of even the humblest of garden weeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/strong>Dyeing techniques<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Heat dye bath<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A heat-dye bath is a process of extracting color from natural materials in water over a heat source. The dye is extracted, the excess dye material is strained out, and the fiber is placed in the pot and heated. If needed, more dye source is added to the tub to add more pigment for a more vibrant color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A heat-dye bath is a process of extracting color from natural materials in water over a heat source.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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