Tuesday, May 29, 2012

dyeing days...

black bean dye

layers of colour

one more

avocado pits

natural dyeing continues around here, something to do in between the rain drops and sun rays. i have been collecting black bean soaking liquid, after seeing the blue that Lisa got, and Joni's green. i completely forgot that they used baking soda in their dye liquid though, and so i got grey-purple (mordanted with alum, by the way). which really, is what i would expect based on the colour of the soaking liquid. it perhaps was not what i set out for in the beginning, but i quite like it. natural dyeing is full of surprises. in the photo you can see the results on washing linen, silk, cotton, and cotton jersey.

i prepared some other dye liquids over the weekend, but don't have fabric results yet to show. right now several sections of our yard are being overtaken by poppies (so vibrant and pretty, but after the bloom the plants are lackluster at best). i thought i would try gathering up the spent petals and see if i could get any colour from them. in that first shot of the poppy jar you can see the shift of colour, from bright orange-coral petals, to pale pink when they contact the hot water, and the darker pink liquid below. very curious to see what colour i get on fabric.

and that last picture? can you see what it is? i have dyed with avocado skins before, which give a nice dusty pink colour. but i have seen some results online and had some hints in my own experimenting, that i might get a much darker colour with just the avocado pits. so that is what i'm trying here. i don't know if it was necessary, but i had a bit of fun smashing up the pits with a hammer. i am letting them soak for a few days to get a dye liquid as well.

updates to come as the summer of natural dyeing progresses...


5 comments:

Els said...

Mmmmmm love to see all these pots of colour !
The grays are wonderful !!!

Jenni said...

I love to see the process.. It is fascinating and must be so exciting to watch and see what color you finally get. How do you know which mordant to set it with or is that trial and error or do you have many different choices there too? My Aunt used to dye wool many years ago but I was too young to take notice and now she is not around to learn from.
Jenni

leFiligree said...

im loving your purple greys. that's the new blue!

Sonia / COZY MEMORIES said...

I think I can hear black beans calling my name ... but I need to find them here first !! What a superb color to work with. Well done on the dyeing.
About poppy petals, I think petals don't like heat, at all. I tried solar dyeing with them last year, it was nice. I/you should try to freeze them in ice cubes, and then use them as solar dyeing, they might release more color.
Looking forward to follow your summer of natural dyeing. We're on the same boat :) So glad about that !
xoxo

Mona said...

In my experience, it is the seed pods of the poppy that yields colour. I eco dyed with whole poppy flowers last year, and I had some remarkable results. Or, perhaps I should have guessed beforehand, since they are quite purple underneath the stamens, but I was surpriced to find a lovely purple when unwrapping my fabric. I think Sonia may be right about the heat, looking forward to se your results :)