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    A Garden to Dye For: How to Use Plants from the Garden to Create Natural Colors for Fabrics & Fibers
    A Garden to Dye For: How to Use Plants from the Garden to Create Natural Colors for Fabrics & Fibers
    A Garden to Dye For: How to Use Plants from the Garden to Create Natural Colors for Fabrics & Fibers
    Ebook265 pages1 hour

    A Garden to Dye For: How to Use Plants from the Garden to Create Natural Colors for Fabrics & Fibers

    By Chris McLaughlin

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    About this ebook

    In A Garden to Dye For, author and gardener Chris McLaughlin showcases 40+ plants that the gardener-crafter can grow for an all-natural, customized color palette. The richly photographed book is divided between the garden and the dye process, with garden layouts, plant profiles, dye extraction and uses, step-by-step recipes and original, engaging DIY projects.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSt. Lynn's Press
    Release dateMay 1, 2014
    ISBN9781943366231
    A Garden to Dye For: How to Use Plants from the Garden to Create Natural Colors for Fabrics & Fibers
    Author

    Chris McLaughlin

    Chris McLaughlin is the author of eight books written about her life passions; gardening and small livestock. Her work can be found in Fine Gardening Magazine, Hobby Farm Home Magazine, Urban Farm Magazine, The Heirloom Gardener Magazine, and Mother Earth Living. Online, she's been a staff blogger for Finegardening.com, About.com, Fix.com, From Scratch Magazine, and many more websites. Chris is currently secretary of The Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association. She and her family enjoy an active and entertaining life on their flower and fiber farm in the Northern California foothills where they grow flowers commercially and Angora goats.

    Read more from Chris Mc Laughlin

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    • 5/5
      A particularly good handbook on the subject. Both factual and philisophical aspects and photos, recipes, plants. Come back to this at pokeberry time.

    Book preview

    A Garden to Dye For - Chris McLaughlin

    Introduction

    What this book is about . . . and what it isn’t.

    I’ve always thought it best to let people know what they’re getting into from the outset. After wading knee-deep into the subject of plants as they apply to natural dyes, I realized that I didn’t know any other gardeners who used their plants in this way; nor was there much talk about the topic in the gardening circles. It’s the fiber artists who were very savvy about all kinds of dyeing techniques, whether natural or synthetic.

    My plan for this book is to bridge the gap between mainstream gardeners and the world of hand crafters. It’s written solely from the perspective of a plant, animal and fiber lover, experimenter, and student of the arts.

    Of course, there are some great books out there on using botanical dyes. I’ve read them and enjoyed them. So why am I writing this one? Because I feel that none of the other books speaks directly to those who are already growing these dye plants: the gardeners! The surprising truth is, most of us have the natural materials to color other parts of our lives waiting patiently in our cottage, cutting, vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens. We may not be aware of the colorful bounty in our own backyards. More than that, we may not know what to do with it, and we could use a little friendly help getting started.

    I wanted to write a book that included simple natural dye techniques, allowing the reader to gain confidence and move on to the next level. I’ve found that it’s much easier to let yourself explore if you have at least a few good recipes under your belt.

    The goal, therefore, is not to attempt to share every scientific formula that includes every possible outcome. Instead, I want to encourage every person who picks up this book to try dyeing with plants.

    Even if it’s just once.

    So here’s what I want you to know about this little dyer’s book:

    This is a book for plant lovers.

    This is a book for people who like to create.

    This is a book for people who like surprises.

    This is a book for experimenters.

    This is a book for people who like to open doors to something much, much bigger.

    What this book is not:

    This is not a dyer’s bible.

    This is not a book for people looking to acquire a science degree. (It’s especially not that)

    This is not a chemistry book.

    You may also like to know this: I have zero background in science.

    I’m also lacking any formal education as a certified naturalist and I don’t hold any Master Dyer title or the like.

    On the other hand:

    I’ve been – and continue to be – a student of my plants and everything they’ve offered me for the past 35 years.

    I’m an avid garden author, writer and blogger.

    I’m hopelessly devoted to plants and just happen to be pretty darn good with them.

    I’m also driven to introduce as many people as humanly possible to what plants do and have always done for the human (and every other) race.

    I consider myself the gateway drug to a healthy plant addiction.

    This is where I shine.

    Some Key Words You’ll Come Across in the Book

    Colorfast (lightfast and washfast). Generally, when we say something is colorfast we mean that the color sticks to the fiber and doesn’t fade much. But for clarity’s sake, we should also be using the terms lightfast (retains its color after being exposed to light regularly) and washfast (retains its color after being washed). A color might be one and not the other.

    Dye pot or dyebath. The pot or container that you soak your fiber or fabric in, which also contains the plant materials (or color derived from said plant material).

    Fugitive. A fugitive dye describes a color that simply isn’t going to stay on fiber or fabric for any length of time. Good examples would be color from berries and black beans. Fugitive dyes are generally most useful for projects that aren’t expected to have lasting color, such as Easter eggs or homemade playdough.

    Modifier. This is a solution used either before or after dyeing in order to brighten, darken, or otherwise change the original color obtained on the fiber. Examples: washing soda and iron (which also happens to be a mordant; see below).

    Mordant. A mordant is a metallic compound that’s used to help bind the color to the fiber or fabric. Examples: alum, copper, tin, chrome or iron. Mordants can also be found in plants. Plant-based mordants, like acorns, oak galls, and sumac leaves are used as well. Mordants aren’t necessary for natural dyeing, but are usually desired.

    Reactive pot. Pots that are made out of aluminum, iron or copper can cause a color reaction with the color, mordant or modifier. This reaction will alter the colors of the dye. Stainless steel, glass and ceramic are all non-reactive pot materials.

    Rogue. This isn’t necessarily a dye word. I use it as a term to describe any color that shows up other than the one you were expecting. Example: Colors can go rogue on you.

    Scouring. Scouring is about removing any residues found on the fiber or fabric, whether this means grease or lanolin from the animal or oils, finishes, or chemicals that were added by a manufacturer. The layman’s term for scouring is washing.

    Textiles. When I use the word textiles as a catch-all word, I’m referring to fabric, fiber and anything else that can be dyed.

    Official Endless-Shades-of-Color Disclaimer

    This may be the oddest disclaimer you’ll ever encounter. Still, it’s important to at least attempt to limit a deluge of emails that could potentially hit my inbox should you not understand this little tidbit about natural dyes. Sometimes even if a recipe is followed to a T, you may not get the color you expected. It’s one of the most fun/most frustrating things about working with dyes derived from the natural world.

    Half of the truth is that color is nothing if not scientifically explainable. In other words, there’s a logical reason why you got purple instead of true blue from your black bean dye. The other half of this truth is that most of us unscientific types are going to be hard-put to explain exactly why a color went rogue on them. The answer here is don’t panic, because usually with a little thought and experimenting the Aha! moment does happen and it all becomes crystal clear.

    You will be amazed at the color variations that your garden and landscape has in store for you! Before I give you The Great Black Bean Example in Chapter 2, here are some of the most common things that will affect your color results:

    The amount of plant material used in the dyebath will help dictate color intensity.

    The temperature of the dyebath. Some-times this doesn’t affect a darn thing. And sometimes it affects everything. Example: a black bean dyebath is created by letting the beans soak in cold water overnight. If you heat the bath up, the color just freaks out. No bueno . . . and no blue. (Black beans just happen to be my best example today).

    What mordant did you use on your fiber? Or did you skip that part? No worries; you often can. But it will make a difference.

    Modify much? You may be thinking that you didn’t use a modifier, so you know that can’t be why you got a color surprise. Are you surrrrre? Could you have made your dyebath in a reactive pot, such as aluminum, iron, or copper – as opposed to stainless steel, ceramic, or glass? Because the sneaky minerals from those first three modified your fiber for sure.

    How long you leave the textiles in the dyebath can change things up big time. I’ve used dyes where the final color came immediately and the fiber never needed time to soak in the bath. But I’ve had others that show their true colors only when they’ve been given their due time.

    The type of fiber you’re dyeing is a huge factor for both color and colorfastness. I’ve found if something is going to have a difficult time taking color, it’s cotton. So if you’ve already put the effort out to create a dyebath, you may want to have several different types of fibers ready to drop into the pot before you write disparaging notes in your dye journal about a certain plant.

    When the plant was harvested often changes the hues. When meaning which part of the season. Did you gather young leaves and stems in late spring or more mature materials in the middle of the summer? Were those pomegranates young or overripe?

    Did you let the plant materials dry before you used them – or did you toss them into the dye pot while they were fresh?

    Which part of the plant did you use? Flower petals, leaves, stems, twigs, bark, nuts, and roots will all offer various colors.

    Here’s a biggie: your water’s pH. Is it on the alkaline or acidic side? We’ll get deeper into that very soon.

    All of that said, there are some recipes in the book that will yield some pretty predicable results, I promise. That’s my disclaimer in a nutshell.

    One

    Another Good Reason for Your Plant Addiction

    Just in case you needed a new excuse to peruse, purchase and obsess over plants – you’ve come to the right place. Let me introduce you to the world of borrowing color from your garden!

    Fair warning, though: once you start dyeing it’s surprisingly hard to stop. Forever after, you’ll be looking at everything around you in one of two ways. The next plant you lay eyes on, one of your first thoughts will be Hmmm . . . can I get color out of that? Anytime you see fabric or fiber, you’ll think, I wonder if that will take color?

    To you, dear gardener, I just want to say Sorry ‘bout that and Welcome to your new addiction.

    It’s probably best to start from the beginning. My attraction to plants began when I was about ten years old and discovered tiny seedlings (volunteers) growing willy-nilly in our traditionally landscaped backyard. I promptly dug them up and placed them into bathroom-sized Dixie cups along with some fresh, bagged soil.

    Lining them up carefully in my little brother’s red wagon, I wheeled them behind me going door-to-door peddling them for

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