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!