The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes

The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes: Personalize your Craft with Organic Colors from Acorns, Blackberries, Coffee, and other Everyday Ingredients, by Sasha Duerr (Timberpress, Inc., Portland, 2010), is packed with information for the home dyer. The book is well written; full of ideas, pictures, and illustrations; and has an emphasis on organic and sustainable practices.

The Introduction and Chapter 1 provide an overview to dyeing with plants. Chapter 2 includes recipes for nontoxic color, and Chapter 3 provides information about gathering and growing your own dye material. Chapter 4 is a plant palette reference for dye colors, and Chapter 5 describes the pleasure of slow textiles. The back matter is filled with reference material, including a glossary; resources for ordering dye products, plants, and seeds; and a reading list.

I especially appreciated the detailed information about mordants and dyes, and the recipes and detailed instructions. For example, here is an abbreviated recipe for dyeing with yellow onion skins from page 66:

Ingredients

• 113 grams (4 ounces) of fiber, pretreated with a plant-based mordant (iron, tannin, or alum)
• 113 grams (4 ounces) onion skins

Steps

1. Soak fabric in water for an hour.
2. Place onion skins in a dye pot with enough water to cover the fiber. 
3. Bring to a boil, simmer until the water is a rich deep color, and the skins are clear. 
4. Strain out the skins, and add wet fabric.
5. Simmer until you get the desired color, cool, and let steep overnight or longer.
6. Wash the fabric with pH-neutral soap, rinse thoroughly, and hang to dry.

I also liked Duerr's color source chart for dye colors. Here is a brief example from page 131 (there are many more colors and plants)!

Color	Plant	Description
Yellows	Calendula (Calendula officinalis) Chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria) Marigold (Tagetes spp.)	Flowers Flowers Flowers
Pinks	Aramanth (Amaranthus retroflexus) Birch (Betula spp.) Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)	Flowers Bark Root

I recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about the world of dyeing!

Flower Aquarium

My sister-in-law, who is a fantastic gardener and landscaper (see Rambles in Drizzly Juneau), gave me a Flower Aquarium as a Christmas gift one year. The flower aquarium is manufactured in Germany, and consists of a round, 7-inch globe with a 2-inch opening; a silicone base that serves as a flower frog and seal for the opening; and a base that acts as a stand.

Flower Aquarium

To use, gather plant material from your yard, garden, or floral provider, and gently rinse off any dirt, pollen, or tiny insects. I usually just immerse the material in coolish water for several minutes. Here is an assortment of azalea, Camellia, polypodium, and a tulip tree bud.

Plant and flower material rinsed and ready to arrange

Arrange your plant material in the silicone frog, using toothpicks as wedges to secure smaller stems. Fill the globe with a mixture of water and three teaspoons white vinegar, insert the arrangement through the opening, and seal. I was a little skeptical about the seal at first, but German engineering prevailed, and the seal is watertight. (My skill at forming the seal improved after several arrangements). Insert the base in the stand to reveal your beautiful arrangement. The plants and flower transpire tiny droplets of air for the first day or two, which is normal.

Flower Aquarium floral arrangement

I have had many hours of creative fun thinking up arrangements for the underwater garden, and experimenting to see which plants and flowers work best. I can recommend the flower aquarium as a great gift to give others or yourself. I'm not sure if the original product is still manufactured, but I have seen similar products offered online from various sources (such as Breck's, Amazon, and sometimes used on eBay). It's worth tracking down for all the pleasure it can add to your life throughout the year.

Equipment for Dyeing with Plants

In this post we take a closer look at the equipment needed for dyeing fabric with plants. In Tooling up to Dye, we got a broad overview of the equipment needed. This time we'll zero in on several key areas.

Following is a list of items that you need for setting up your dyeing studio, based on my experience. If you come up with some more ideas, let me know.

• Well-ventilated work space (outside is ideal)
• Heat source (gas camp stove, electric burners, charcoal grill, or open wood fire)
• Large pans for boiling water (copper, stainless steel, aluminum)
• Lots of water (if necessary, use pH strips to test for acidity/alkalinity)
• Several plastic buckets of various sizes for rinsing or soaking fabric
• Scouring supplies (such as washing soda, Borax, or Dawn dish washing detergent)
• Mordants:
• Plant-based fiber: tannins, salt, vinegar, baking soda, alum (and cream of tartar)
• Protein-based fiber: iron, copper, tin, chrome, alum (and cream of tartar)
• Cheese cloth, sieves, strainers, funnels
• Several basins and containers to use for soaking, extracting, straining
• Large metal spoons or wooden sticks for stirring
• Large jars for storing dye and mordant solution
• Fiber or fabric for dyeing (either plant-based or protein based):
• Plant- or cellulose-based fiber: cotton, linen, jute, and hemp
• Protein-based fiber: wool, mohair, angora, and silk
• Scale for weighing fabric, mordant, and dye
• Glass and plastic cups or containers for measuring water and liquids
• Dye source (harvested from nature, or purchased)
• Mortar and pestle, food grinder, or old blender for masticating dye source
• Protective gear (dust and vapor masks, waterproof and heat-resistant gloves, splash-proof apron, and covered shoes)

Ideally, store your tools and supplies in an easy-to-access spot, so you can dye whenever the time is right!

Linnaeus Apostles: Search for Dyes

Carl Linnaeus sent his "apostles" from the University of Sweden, Uppsala out into the world  to gather plant specimens, and to name and classify them using the binomial naming system. Part of the mission was to identify plants that could help Sweden become self-sufficient and to prosper. Textiles and plant dyes were included in that charter.

Several years ago we learned about four of the apostles and their discoveries (see: Linnaeus Apostles). Here is a refresher about these four apostles.

Apostle	Description
Pehr Löfling (1729 – 1756)	Explored Spain and South America (1751 – 1756). Search for dyes
Pehr Kalm (1715 – 1779)	Explored North America and Canada (1747 – 1751). Search for dyes
Carl Peter Thunberg (1743 – 1828)	Explored South Africa and Japan (1770 – 1779). Search for dyes
Daniel Solander (1733 – 1782)	Explored Australia and Iceland (1768 – 1772). Search for dyes

Over the next several months we'll take another look at these apostles, specifically to see what each of them learned about textiles and plant dyes. Viveka Hansen, author of Textilia Linnaeana: Global 18th Century Textile Traditions & Trade, will be our guide.