Plants to Dye For: Wrap Up 2025

I'm closing up my atelier for the season, and looking back over several projects. One of them was to consolidate all the steps to prepare fabric for dyeing (scouring, mordanting, and brightening or saddening) into one blog article, eliminating the need to access multiple articles to find the information.

The rest of the projects used dye source material from our yard. The best color came from blackberry canes and leaves, using classic heat extraction, which produced a nice strong yellow. For the remaining projects, I used solar dyeing, with somewhat disappointing results (although it is always interesting to experiment). I also researched how to keep a dye journal.

The best of this year's dye experiments - Blackberry Canes and Leaves

Projects

Prepare your fabric for dyeing, and dye with blackberry canes, pyracantha pomes, beet stems, and pittosporum capsules. Get inspired to keep a dye journal of all your projects and experiments.

• Dye Project: Preparing your Fabric (Scour, Mordant, Brighten or Sadden)

• Dye Project: Blackberry Cane and Leaves (Classic Heat Extraction)

• Dye Project: Pyracantha (Solar)

• Dye Project: Beet Stems (Solar)

• Dye Project: Pittosporum (Solar)

• Dye Project: Keeping a Dye Journal

Ethnobotany: Dye Sources

Learn about the dye sources used by several First Nations people in the United States. This research inspired me to try dyeing with more plant material from my own back yard. See the "Dye Sources" section in each reference.

• Ethnobotany: Tlingit's and Dyeing with Plants

• Ethnobotany: Muwekma Ohlone Basketry

• Ethnobotany: Kanaka Maoli Kapa

Books and Articles

Great books and articles for learning about plants and dyes.

• A Garden to Dye For, by Chris McLaughlin.

• Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes, by Rebecca Burgess.

• Plant Dyeing with Blackberry Canes & Leaves - this article was inspiration for dyeing with blackberry cane and leaves.

• Solar Dyeing - Super Slow Fashion, by Ria Burns. Good basic information about solar dyeing.

• Solar Dyeing with Onion Skins, by Ria Burns. More good information about solar dyeing.

• The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes, by Sasha Duerr.

Resources

Favorite sources for plant dye supplies and information.

Maiwa School of Textiles: shop for dyes and mordants, and learn how to dye.

Dharma Trading Company: shop for Professional Textile Detergent (a.k.a., Dharma Dyer's Detergent), dyes, fabric and supplies, and learn how to dye.

Amazon.com: shop for alum, Synthrapol, soda ash, washing soda, dyes, and jars.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. To see what we did last year, see Sabbatical, Seasons, and Seasons of Life: Wrap Up, the "Plants to Dye For: Wrap Up 2024" section. Stay tuned for more dye projects in the seasons to come!

Dye Project: Pittosporum

I tried another solar dyeing project using capsules from the Pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum) shrubs in the side and lower yards. The fruit is in the form of orange woody capsules that ripen in the fall, contain multiple seeds, and are eaten by local and migrating birds. I thought this project might yield a yellow or orange dye, but the project turned out to be doomed from the beginning!

Solar dyeing with pittosporum capsules - day 1

I harvested 220 grams (7.7 ounces) of the woody capsules for the project, and then rinsed the fruit in water to remove dust and small insects. I let the capsules dry in the furnace room for about a month, which resulted in 103 grams of dried capsules (3.6 ounces).

Pittosporum capsules - freshly picked (look at those colors)

Pittosporum capsules - dried

For this project, I used one cotton dish towel that had been prepared as described in Preparing your Fabric (Scour, Mordant, Brighten or Sadden). The towel had been scoured, mordanted with oak gallnut extract, and brightened with alum and soda ash. The weight of fabric (WOF) was 77 grams, or 2.7 ounces.  The WOF% was 133% for the 103 grams of dried fruit. Dyers typically recommend equal weights of fabric and plant material for solar dyeing, so we're well over that. 

I added three teaspoons of alum and boiling water to my favorite solar dyeing jar, and the jar "cracked and exploded"! I have poured boiling water into that jar many times, and have washed it in the dishwasher with no problems. I am so disappointed to lose my 1.5 liter dyeing jar (a thrift store treasure)! 

The whole bottom cracked in my favorite solar dyeing jar!

I found another jar, although not as desirable, and added three teaspoons of alum to about a cup of hot tap water. After stirring to dissolve the alum, I layered capsules and the dishtowel in the jar, and topped it off with more hot tap water. I found the capsules (especially the capsule seeds) to be very sticky. 

My typical experience has been that some dye is released from the dye source almost immediately in solar dyeing experiments, but this time I noticed that no dye was released. I wondered if this was a bad sign, but decided to continue the experiment. After all, perhaps pittosporum dye takes more time to be released, or the color is transferred to fabric through direct contact. If that isn't the case, then the failed project would be a way to eliminate a dye source that does not work using the solar dyeing technique.

Dyeing with pittosporum - day 28

Initially, I steeped the dishtowels in the pittosporum dye bath for two weeks as I usually do, making sure to rock and rotate the jar daily to distribute dye and fruit evenly. At two weeks, dye was still not released, so I was tempted to abandon the project. Still, I thought I saw the beginning of a very pale yellow tinge to the dye bath, so decided to continue the project for another two weeks.

As with previous solar dyeing projects, I shook out the capsule material, rinsed the fabric, and then ran it through the washing machine without detergent, and hung to dry. Streaks of pale yellow remained on the fabric!

Hang to dry

After waiting two more weeks to set the dye, I washed the fabric with a mild textile soap [like Synthropol or Professional Textile Detergent (a.k.a., Dharma Dyer's Detergent)] and hung it to to dry. The result is almost white, but with streaks of yellow in certain light. It will be interesting to see how colorfast the dye is over time. The color that did stick is promising; I'm wondering whether the color could be extracted with heat. On the other hand, with so many plants that produce excellent, strong yellows—weld, tulip tree, marigold, and blackberry cane come to mind—it may not be worth the effort!

Plant Hunters: Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott

Another plant hunter - this time collecting plants of the sea! This report is about ethnobotanist Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott (1919 - 2010), affectionately nicknamed "First Lady of Limu". Limu is the Polynesian term for edible plants living underwater, such as seaweed, or plants living near the water, like algae. Isabella's love of botany, including limu, started when she was a child, learning at her mother's side. I first learned about Isabella through an article on women botanists of California that was published by the East Bay Regional Parks (unfortunately, the link is no longer active). Regardless, the article captured my attention about her life and work, and I wanted to know more.  

Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott
(photo is in the public domain)

Isabella Kauakea Yau Yung Aiona (a.k.a., "Izzie") was born in Hāna on Maui, Hawaii to a Chinese father and Kanaka Maoli mother. Her father had come to Hawaii to work on a plantation, and then opened a general store once he had completed his contract. The family moved to Honolulu for educational opportunities, but returned to Maui during summer vacations. They stayed with her maternal grandmother and spent time at the beach, where her mother taught Izzie and her brother the names of edible limu and their uses.

Maui coast and limu-covered rocks at low tide
(photo by Starr Environmental, Creative Commons)

Isabella graduated from Kamehameha School for Girls, and then earned a bachelor’s degree in botany at University of Hawaii Mānoa in 1941. While at the University, she met zoology major, Donald P. Abbott, and they married in 1943. Isabell earned a master’s degree in botany from the University of Michigan in 1942; and a doctorate in algal taxonomy from the University of California, Berkeley in 1950. She was the first Kanaka Maoli woman to receive a Ph.D. in science.

Dr. Donald P. Abbott became a zoologist at Stanford University, and the couple made California their home. In 1960 Isabella began teaching at Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford (the first Kanaka Maoli faculty member at Stanford), and in 1972 she became a full professor in Stanford University’s biology department. She published her book Marine Algae of California in 1976 with George J. Hollenberg (earning her the nickname of "First Lady of Limu").

Dr. Abbott collecting limu
(photo source unknown; possibly Celia M. Smith, Stanford)

After retiring from Stanford in 1982, the Abbotts returned to Hawaii where Isabella began teaching botany at University of Hawaii. She later taught Hawaiian ethnobotany at the University, incorporating what she had learned about traditional Hawaiian foods and the Hawaiian language from her mother. She worked to create an ethnobotany major to help advance Hawaiian knowledge. Her efforts contributed to the Hawaiian Renaissance that had started in the 1970s.

Dr. Abbott describes edible limu species (screen shot from
An Introduction to Ethnobotany, ~marker 5:07) 

During the course of her career Isabella studied and cataloged limu, coral reefs, and medical plants. She wrote over 150 articles and eight books, and discovered over 200 species of limu. She was know as a warm person and wonderful cook, often experimenting with culinary uses of limu (including a seaweed cake that was featured in Gourmet magazine in 1987). She collected oral histories and combed through archival material to understand Kanaka Maoli culture and cuisine, and published her book Lāʻau Hawai‘i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants in 1992. I recommend watching several of the YouTube videos listed below, to experience this pioneering ethnobotanist.

Learn More

• Edible Limu...Gifts from the Sea (https://www.hawaii.edu/reefalgae/publications/ediblelimu/index.htm). Poster based upon the book Limu: An Ethnobotanical Study of Some Hawaiian Seaweeds, by I.A. Abbott. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai, Hawaii, 1984. Useful visual presentation of important Hawaiian seaweed species.

• Ethnobotany of Limu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeWi1PlaaLI). 73rdStProductions, "Introduction to Ethnobotany" series, Video 14, May 17, 2012. Presented by Isabella Aiona Abbott. This episode discusses some of the species of algae that are eaten in Hawaii, and the life experiences of Isabella Abbott as a native Hawaiian scientist.

• Isabella Abbott. Wikipedia article on Dr. I.A. Abbott (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Abbott). Good summary of Dr. Abbott's life and career, with a comprehensive list of publications.

• Isabella Aiona Abbott. Long Story Short, interview with Leslie Wilcox (https://youtu.be/4qvIXFS5k-k). PBS Hawaii, 2017 (original air date 2008). This interview really captures Dr. I.A. Abbott's personality and presence, as well as her accomplishments.

• Isabella Aiona Abbott - Seaweed Lady, by Heather Irvine, Medical Plants Educator (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/isabella-aiona-abbott-seaweed-lady-heather-irvine/). Linked In, March 29, 2023. This article provides an interesting biography of Dr. I.A. Abbott.

• Lāʻau Hawai‘i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants, by Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott (https://bishopmuseumpress.org/products/laau-hawaii). Bishop Museum Honolulu, 1992. This book provides a detailed description of the Polynesian canoe and Hawaiian native plants that are important for Hawaiian culture.

• Limu: An Ethnobotanical Study of Some Hawaiian Seaweeds, by Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott (https://www.nativebookshawaii.org/products/limu-an-ethnobotanical-study-of-some-hawaiian-seaweeds). National Tropical Botanical Garden, 1984. This book describes fourteen species of limu that are food sources for Hawaiians.

• Pioneering Professor is First Lady of Limu, by Jennifer Crites (https://www.hawaii.edu/malamalama/2010/10/isabella-abbott/). Malamalama: The Light of Knowledge: The magazine of the University of Hawaii, October 21, 2010. This article provides a biography of Dr. I.A. Abbott and her career.

• Seaweed Wiz, by Louis Bergeron (https://stanfordmag.org/contents/seaweed-wiz). Stanford Magazine, March/April 2011. This article provides a brief biography of "Izzie" Abbott.