Plant Dyed Yarn

Madder Root + Alum

How to: Prepare fibre with an alum mordant of 20% WOF overnight. To produce a red with madder root, the ideal ratio of fibre to dye is 1:1. For this bath, I have used 50 g of Madder Powder to 200 g of wool fibre in 6 L of water (1:4). Typically, I try to exhaust every dye bath through a process of reduction and the continual addition of fibre. This results in a natural gradation of colour - reds, oranges, to salmons and light pinks. Slowly heat the dye bath to 60°C (140°F). Hotter temperatures will affect the colour quality. Add wet fibre, stir and maintain temperature for 2 hours. Remove from heat and allow to cool in dye bath overnight.

Second experiment (top). True reds require hard water. You can add calcium carbonate (chalk) if your water is too acidic. In this dye bath, I was a little overzealous with my ratios and I ended up with many more oranges than red skeins. Not a complete failure though as I will overdye these skeins with tannins (tea) for rust colour, or save for an exhausted indigo vat to create a mulberry purple colour.

Third experiment (bottom). I feel like I am growing closer to a true red colour that does not favour orange or brick red. I'm finding it really difficult and frustrating!! I feel like everyone is lying when they say they've had success with a one pot madder recipe! This is the closest I feel that I have come to achieving an elusive red - all skeins were pre-dyed with either a weak madder bath from the previous attempt (dusty rose colour) OR pre-dyed with lac (bright magenta - resulting in top left corner) OR a warm caramel colour with spotted gum bark.

Spotted Gum Bark (Eucalyptus)

How to:

Dandelions + Alum

How to: Prepare fibre with an alum mordant of 20% WOF overnight. 51g of dandelions (flower only) for 36 g of fibre. Add dandelions to 3 cups of water and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for 1 hour. Remove from heat and add prepared fibre.

For this experiment, I increased the volume of my dye bath by adding additional water from my alum mordant bath. Unfortunately, this decreased the concentration. After the initial exhaust, I reduced the dye bath and set aside to cool. I added fibre to the reduction and a soft, antique yellow was produced after one week in the cold bath.

Second experiment: Prepare fibre with an alum mordant of 20% WOF (102g). Soak overnight in mordant. The next morning, hang to dry. Store fibre for three weeks to cure before dyeing (this increases the vibrancy and lightfastness). For the dye bath, gather dandelions (146g) and simmer in a pot with water to cover for 2 hours. Remove from heat and place in a container to ferment with wild yeast for one week. When ready to dye, add the dandelion tea to a larger vessel and increase with water to enable movement of fibre (not too much, as this will weaken the bath). Place pre-mordanted fibre in some warm water to soak for an hour prior to the dye bath. Heat dye bath to a low simmer (40-50 degrees Celsius). Add fibre to dye bath. Leave at low simmer for 2 hours and remove heat. Stir occasionally. Leave fibre in bath overnight. This photo does not do a good job representing the colour - much more vibrant, almost weld yellow.

Onion Skins + Alum

How to: Prepare fibre with an alum mordant of 20% WOF overnight. Place the skins collected from 2 kgs of brown onions in water. Boil the dye bath for 45 - 60 minutes until a deep colour appears. If dyeing with wool, add a squirt of washing detergent to the bath to remove any residual lanolin. Lower the heat to a simmer and add your wet fibre, slowly stirring as they are submerged. Remove in intervals to achieve a gradient of colour, or extract all together for an even colour. The longer the fibre is left in the dye bath, the deeper the colour.

Apparently, you do not need to use alum with onion skin dyes as there are naturally present tannins in the skins to fix the dye. However, alum helps with colour and light fastness. The image shows a gradient produced with removals from the dye bath, first skein removed (left) to the last skein out of the bath (right).

Onion Skins + Iron

How to: Prepare fibre with an alum mordant of 20% WOF overnight OR mordant with ferrous sulphate (iron) at 10% WOF. Place the skins collected from 2 kgs of brown onions in water. Boil the dye bath for 45 - 60 minutes until a deep colour appears. Remove skins. Sprinkle a teaspoon of ferrous sulphate into the dye bath. This will quickly change the colour from a deep brown to an almost black-green. Lower the heat to a simmer and add your wet fibre, slowly stirring as they are submerged. Leave in bath overnight, or remove as desired colour is achieved. Rinse in a soap bath to neutralise acidity.

You do not need to use alum with onion skin dyes as there are naturally present tannins in the skins to fix the dye. However, a mordant will help with colour and light fastness. I used iron mordants (balls on left) and alum (skeins on right) to test this process. To create "greenier" colours, rather than greys, overdye with additional yellow dye bath. Be careful not to over use iron as it will degrade the quality of your wool.

Blackberry Nightshade + Alum

How to: Prepare fibre with an alum mordant of 20% WOF overnight. Forage for ripe blackberries from blackberry nightshade plants. Berries must be a deep black/purple colour. Place whole berries into a linen pouch (60g). Simmer for 1 hour in enough water to submerge the blackberry tea bag. Do not boil. Use a potato masher to squish the submerged tea bag - this will breakdown any intact berries to release the juice and and tannins into the dye bath. Remove bag with berries and add fibre (35g) on a low heat to absorb dye.

Do not eat unripe berries (green) as they are toxic. If you are brave, the ripe black berries are edible. This dye is light and heat sensitive. Colour will change from purple to a blue as fibre is removed from dye bath and oxidises.

Indigo Vat (Hydros)

How to:

Gall + Iron

How to: To extract the tannins from the oak galls, first you must pulverise the galls into small chunks. Weigh 50g of galls, wrap in cloth and beat with a mallet until small chunks are achieved. Add 2 cups of water and boil until a deep brown colour appears. Simmer for approximately 1 hour at 60°C (140°F). Leave to cool. Use a fine cloth to filter solution. Add a sprinkle of ferrous sulphate (iron) into the dye bath (5g). This will quickly change the colour of the bath a deep black. Add 50 g of fibre whilst the bath is still hot. Leave to soak overnight.

For this experiment, I used dry, 50g of imported oak galls. Results may vary with fresh/green oak galls. I prepared 75 g of fibre for dyeing without mordant as the iron and tannins will do the trick. I also prepared skeins with an alum mordant for the second exhaust bath. In the photo, the skeins on the left are the result of no mordant, alum mordant (middle), and hand spun (right). The handspun was the final exhaust of the dye bath and was the only true grey result. Alum appeared to produce a "bluer" lavender colour.

Onion Skins + Iron + Gall

How to: Weigh 50g of gall extract (tannin). Add 2 cups of water and boil until a deep brown colour appears. Simmer for approximately 1 hour at 60°C (140°F). Leave to cool. Add a sprinkle of ferrous sulphate (iron) into the dye bath (< 5g). This will quickly change the colour of the bath a deep black. Add 50 g of fibre whilst the bath is still hot. Remove from heat and leave to soak overnight. Once removed from dye bath, rinse with detergent to neutralise, and hang to dry.

From left to right:

1. Fermented gall mordant (8 weeks) in gall. Skein retrieved from mordant as a pale yellow colour. Iron dye bath.

2. Alum mordant, onion skin dyed in light yellow, dried, gall and iron dye bath

3. 4. 5. Alum, onion and iron dye, dried, gall and iron bath

6. Hand spun - alum, gall and iron dye bath, repeated x3 (should have scoured)