Autumn Plant Dyeing

The change of seasons brings many changes to a home...

Colors become more rich and deep; gone are the wispy blues of Summer.

I have completed our new set of plant dyed playsilks after some time tinkering with recipes, materials, etc...

 

Red was created from a cup of dried hibiscus tea. I found this in bulk at our local Wegmans; costing a total of $1.23. I let the tea simmer for about a hour, then let it cool while the silks soaked in vinegar (as a mordant). Plant dyes really aren't color fast, so some sort of preparation is necessary to keep the colors bright. I have used alum and cream of tartar in the past with good results. This time I used only 2 cups of white vinegar and a cup of warm water. 

Orange was created from madder root which I heated past the recommended temperature needed to achieve a deep pink. 

Yellow is very simple-- 3 tablespoons of turmeric in a pot of simmering water. Very quick and super color fast. 

Green was the trickiest. I first dyed a silk using indigo and allowed it to dry. I then submerged the silk in the turmeric preparation for about 30 seconds. The green is very muted and transparent. I really like this result!

Blue was created by using an indigo powder which was gifted to me by my cousin when he visited Egypt. 

Purple was created by boiling a 3 cups of shredded purple cabbage in a pot of simmering water. It is a pungent smell that will linger in your house all day long, but the result is beautiful and very color fast.

Pink was created by using strained beets which were simmered for about 2 hours. This is the least color fast preparation and yields more of a muted mauve shade. Madder root has given me beautiful pink shades while dyeing with cotton and wool, but silk is another story. I'm trying again this week!

 

I've also been dyeing some wool batting for future projects...

The best price I have found for cleaned and carded wool is $7.50/lb. 

I ordered 2 lbs and with shipping it cost $26.22.

The wool mill is about an hour from our house and they only take phone orders.

I highly recommend their products!

 

West Earl Wool Mill

717.859.2241

 

Thank you for all of your feedback regarding my previous post. I continue to strive to remain patient and empathetic towards W and his recent challenges. He is a little boy who feels the enormity of the things which are frustrating him. 

I met last night with my mentor teacher from Princeton Waldorf school and she'll be observing playgarden this coming Wednesday. I am eager to hear her suggestions and feedback. I can already feel her support and I am so grateful. 

Looking ahead this week to Michaelmas.....

 

Rose Madder

After dappling in plant dyeing for the past year or so, I decided that this was the Summer I was going to immerse myself (pun!) and truly begin to learn this art...

Rose Madder is my first attempt, and the colors are soft, ethereal, and so varied. 

Madder has been used since ancient times as a vegetable red dye for leather, wool, cotton and silk.The root of this pant contains the coral looking color which is prepared for dyeing. The root is dried and then broken or cut into small pieces and then soaked overnight or longer....

W had a great time helping me break the dried roots!

To prepare the fabric for dyeing, I used craem of tartar and Alum for a mordant. This whole process took about 90 minutes. After soaking, the broken pieces went into a cotton dye bag and were simmered for an hour at a constant temperature of no more than 180 degrees. Or so the directions called for. Apparently, if you heat past this point, the dye will yield a peachy orange color...which I found out is equally as beautiful as the expected deep rose color.

Still hoping to achieve a true pink, I started over:)

 

Depending on how long you steep the fabric or, as I noted above, the temperature of the dye bath, beautiful shades of peachy pink are obtained. 

When I see these colors, I immediately think of a Waldorf Nursery or Kindergarten....

Such a womb like and soft, breathing color.

I'm planning on replacing our playgarden playsilks with 100% plant dyed silks. I previously had a collection of acid dye, kool aid dye, and plant dyed silks....which were beautiful, but I'm now looking for something softer and lifelike. Especially since it looks like playgarden will mostly be  nursery aged children in the Fall! I'm really looking forward to this as the nursery age group seems to be my real and true love.

Speaking of...

(wedding invitation spoiler alert for family and friends...yes, we did wait this long!)

Have I mentioned that Jay and I are finally getting married on Sept. 1st...as in, about 2 months from now!?

Details are falling into place and we're getting more and more excited.

W's birthday is in about 2 weeks so I'll be crafting in preparation along with plant dyeing which works out well as I'll be needing some yellow roving for W's birthday crown. (run on sentence!)

In other exciting news, I have just found out that a Lifeways weekend training course is being held at a nearby by Waldorf school in October. I'm going and I couldn't feel more lucky or thrilled. Please visit the Lifeways North America website here. It is a true gem for homecare providers such as myself. I am guided by the Lifeways principles (here) in playgarden "operation" and the words couldn't ring more true for me. I believe many of you will be enthusiastically nodding your heads "yes" as you read the, too! I am so excited to meet Cynthia Aldinger and other homecare providers in the area!!!