white cotton napkins, plant materials, soaked in water with metal pieces
Eco dyeing with vegetables and tea on cotton and linen
It’s been in the mid-7o’s all week and with spring in the air, the eco-dye pots are calling. I’ve been playing with 2 different dye pots – one was nothing but a big pot of tea, in which I soaked some pieces of cotton wrapped around sticks from the back yard, the other was water with a couple of rusty metal bottle caps, in which i soaked pieces of cotton and linen napkins that had red/yellow onion skins and red cabbage leaves bundled inside and then wrapped around a stick. These fabrics soaked at room temperature for a couple of days.
white linen napkins, red/yellow onion skins and red cabbage, dyed in a water bath
I love the color surprises. There are so many variables to eco dyeing with natural plant materials, that unless you set up super-structured scientific parameters (measure and document and track everything) around fabric preparation, mordant selection, dye bath preparation, the results will include some mystery in the outcome.
This is exactly what attracts me to this – playing with different found materials, reading and researching what some of the “master” eco-dyers have to share, and trying out my own brews and concoctions. I do love process and experimentation, and using natural materials (no nasty chemicals) to achieve various color results is a fun challenge. Part of the challenge is not only achieving the color, but getting it to “fix” or remain on the fabric long term – plant dyes are very fugitive and susceptible to fading.
cotton napkins shibori-wrapped on sticks and dyed in tea bath (left) and water with metal (right)
I feel another new workshop concept coming on…..not for this summer in Telluride, where I’ll be teaching a workshop on Breakdown dye printing at the Aha School for the Arts, but maybe next year (or even sooner if I can get something together locally).
cotton fabric shibori-wrapped, bundled, dyed in tea bath (bottom piece), dyed in tea + water/metal dye bath (top piece)
I’ve got another “brew” going today – a bag of black beans, soaked in water for 2 days. I’ve added some silk to the dark liquid and will let it steep for a couple days, then plan to add some cotton if the dye bath still has some life to it. Will share the results of the black bean dye pot once the fabric is done brewing.
Have you done any eco-dyeing and have any results to share? Please let us know in the comments below.
