A Garden to Dye For. Chris McLaughlin
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a huge negative on the surface. But in my experience, many of the colors fade ever-so-slowly and gently. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to compare it to the changing seasons in the garden. If you end up using something seriously fugitive, there’s a window of opportunity for over-dyeing here. Don’t forget that some fibers take color better than others. Wool, for instance, has always taken natural dyes easier than cotton has, at least for me.
To be fair, natural dyes might be a reasonable concern commercially. It could be potentially challenging to achieve vast amounts of the exact same dye lot, for instance. On the other hand, I’ve spoken with small yarn companies that have no problem selling their naturally dyed yarns with complete customer satisfaction. I’ll have to leave that up to the individual who’s looking to take this to profitable heights. For the intentions of this book, it’s a non-issue.
2. “Natural dyes are always ecologically and environmentally safe.” True or false?
False. Does that surprise you? The reason the answer is false is because of the word “always.” As I mentioned earlier, most plant dyes are considered non-toxic (as well as biodegradable and renewable). However, not all of them. Some are toxic if ingested and some can cause allergic skin reaction on contact. Also, not all mordants are completely safe and non-toxic and some dye plants can be poisonous to people and pets. All dyes and mordants should be handled with thought and safety in mind.
(This seems like a good place to mention that this book isn’t about demonizing synthetic dyes; they, too, can be quite safe when handled properly; they have their own plusses.)
3. “Color derived from plants is always dull.” True or false?
Nah. (False) Have you seen indigo? Poke-berry? Lichen? Madder? Marigold? People, please.
4. “Making natural dyes is very time-consuming.” True or false?
I’m going to say both. Depending on which plant you’re using and what color you’re trying to achieve, natural dyes may take more time than their synthetic counterparts, for sure. This is because sometimes we leave our fibers in a dyebath overnight or we’re using an indigo vat; and getting the vat prepared takes a little time. That said, the basic dyebath that I use for the most part isn’t very time-consuming at all. So it can be whatever you want it to be, depending on your goals.
Let me leave this subject with this thought: Ever heard of the Slow Food movement? If not, then look it up, because making food, fiber, and life from scratch is the way the wind is blowing these days. Slower is being more aware and more involved.
Slower usually equals better. In fact, no matter what kind of dyes you use, if you’re doing it by hand, it’s slow and that means it’s good. Growing the plants and extracting your own dyes brings intimacy to the craft.
5. “Natural dyes aren’t worth the hassle.” True or false?
Au contraire. It may come as no surprise that natural dyes create hues that are in perfect agreement with one another (probably a no-brainer). There’s nothing like working with living color – especially when it came from the garden that you tend.
They are so worth it. They’re worth it for fiber artists, knitters, weavers, and quilters. They’re worth it for sewers and moms and kids.
But for the gardener? It’s especially worth it for the gardener. We loved the plants first.
Before Planting Unfamiliar Plants
On these pages I’ll certainly mention wild and/or native plants and weeds more than once. Although they may produce great colors in the dye pot, in no way am I suggesting that you plant them willy-nilly throughout your yard or garden. When I first started writing this book the plan was to discuss those plants that are commonly planted in gardens and the landscape. But I decided to mention some that are more weeds than actual garden plants because they were just too good to leave out.
What I’m trying to say is that if you’re considering growing wild, native, or weeds for their pigment, please look them up and then cross reference their habits in your area with reliable databases. Some weeds can be grown here in California with no ill effect to native plants of that region – while the very same plant might be considered a noxious weed that’s invasive to the point of crowding out the native plant species of another region. Irresponsibility is a no-win for everybody.
So, before you add a species that’s unfamiliar to you, do your research, folks.
Some good places to start:
National Invasive Species Information Center http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/resources/databases.shtml
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Database
http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxiousDriver
Materials & Textiles for Natural Dyeing
Here’s where we get into which textiles take color best from plant dyes and how to help them “stick.” We’ll talk about preparing fibers to be dyed and find tips on how to play with modifiers (see below) in order to achieve different colors from the same dyebath.
Plant dyes prefer natural materials, of course! As far as plant dyes are concerned, I tend to stick to natural fibers simply because I can be fairly certain that the colors will take in some way.
While you’re considering what else can be tossed into the dyebath, think about some items that are already in your wardrobe or linen closet that could use a little pick-meup. These items needn’t be white, either. If the fabric will take color, you can dye right over its current shade. Over-dyeing fibers offers endless possibilities.
Generally speaking, plant dyes have a hard time bonding to synthetic (man-made) fibers. But that isn’t to say that all man-made materials will reject all plant dyes. If you want to see what your dyebath will do to a sweater that’s a synthetic blend, by all means, toss it in! The best things happen when you’re willing to experiment.
Protein & Cellulose Fibers
Fabric and fibers that make excellent dyeing materials fall into one of two categories: animal (protein) and plant (cellulose).
Protein fibers are produced by animals. Hand spinners, knitters, and weavers are big fans of these fibers, which include: sheep’s wool, mohair (Angora goat), Angora (rabbit), alpaca, cashmere (goats), silk (worms), and felt (wool). Animal fibers grab natural dye like mad (and quickly), so they’re the perfect choice for someone experimenting with plant dyes for the first time.
Protein fibers (including silk) come from animals. Milk fiber is also treated as a protein . . . yes, you can spin fiber from milk!
Cellulose fibers are produced from plants. Vegetable fibers such as cotton, bamboo, hemp, ramie, wood, basket-making reeds, muslin, and linen are all easy-to-find examples of plant fibers. They’re generally slower to absorb color, so they should remain in the dyebath longer. They can also take longer to prepare if the fabric needs lengthier scouring (see Some Key Words on page xii) and perhaps tannin-mordanted for extra color-fixing (mordant info coming up).