NATURALLY DYEING

alnus glutinosa

2011-12-27T14:37:00.000+01:00

Back in October, we gathered Alnus glutinosa cones, also known as Black/European/Common Alder.

I'm pretty satisfied with what it gave :

It gave nicer (well, stronger) results on the silk & (striped) wool fabrics, obviously. Almost golden, really nice, right ?

I'm not the first one who have used alder cones, Eva & Yuki already did before me. I wanted to give it a try & I did. I would like to do it again, if only there are cones left when we'll be able to spend a day out in nature. Who knows when this will happen ? it's already been such a long while ... well October 05th was the last time actually. So doesn't that sound totally pathetic ? (yes, I think so too, and deeply regret it)

Speaking of dyeing, and of naturally dyed fabrics .... I've been thinking about it all these last days, and I'll be committing for 2012, to do just like I did for 2011, which was not to buy any new fabric. At least not for my shop. I may need to buy some silk for my dyeing experiment or if I want to make something like a duvet cover (you get the idea) which require something specific & in a specific quantity. I respected my commitment in 2011, which I am truly proud of (not blowing any trumpets, just saying & feeling happy about that)

photo taken back in July, at Margie's
... so many unforgettable memories

I am aiming in 2012 to use more & more naturally dyed fabrics (or materials) and to reuse/repurpose a maximum. And of course to use all the ("new", never used) fabrics I've been buying along the years, too. I hope to create a happy, eclectic, original mix of all of these. I'm not pretending to create a style of my own, but well, I hope it'll be something good, with a homey, cozy, warm & lovely feeling to it.

catching up with the dyeings

2011-09-10T11:10:00.000+02:00

I haven't dyed in September, but I did in August. And more than once actually. I'm going to show you three of them, since I have not taken photos of the other ones.

I've used two plants that I had already tried last year, phillyrea angustifolia & rhamnus alaternus. The first one gave approximately the same results, the other not.

This is what phillyrea angustifolia gave :

This is what rhamnus alaternus gave :

For the comparison, this is what it gave last spring with iron :

And what it gave last summer :

Quite different, right ?! That's the joy of natural dyeing !! :)

And the last dyeing I'll show today is avocadoe skins. Nothing original, I know, most dyers have already used them, but I hadn't & still wonder why ... since it gave such a lovely lovely hue !! (silly me !) I've done it again since that day, and still have avocadoe skins to use for a next dyeing.

Here is a group photo with the other dyeings I had done in the summer. I think they look nice together, like all naturally dyed fabrics/fibers usually do ... they are harmonious, no matter the colors.

linen (above)

cottons (above and below)

If you are still wondering if I'll ever start using all of my dyed materials .... the answer is YES ! I have started, this summer, when I was at Margie's. And what I had been brewin' ... well, I'm starting the see the light at the end of the tunnel (so to speak of course), and ideas are taking shape, some are being processed, and I hope I'll have enough material to fill the shop (and to show you) later this month. Beyond the experiments themselves, it'd be pointless to stock all these dyed fibers & not using them. So it will come, lovely people, it will come ... in time, I promise. Until then, I'll keep on working on my ideas.

three solar dyeings ... results, at long last

2011-09-10T11:06:00.000+02:00

I had kind of forgotten about them, not in the jars of course (it would oh so rotten by now, yuck !!) but I had rather forgotten to post about them here. I'm talking about the three solar dyeings that I had done back in the early summer. So here are the results, it made me smile to display them a bit like a patchwork :)

wild mallow

lavender

poppy

Different & yet interesting results. My friend Lisa posted about her recent dyeings with mushrooms here and here. You should get a look if you're interested in natural dyeing !

fennel tie dye

2011-08-23T11:40:00.000+02:00

After our first experiment with natural tie-dyeing, back in March (2011) with onion skins/peels, we really want to try again, with another plant. I wanted to try with something that'd grow abundantly here, and seasonal of course. So (wild) fennel came automatically to my mind, because it grows as wild & abundantly here as queen anne's lace in Ontario ! (ah !) You can see here that we have already dyed with fennel (foeniculum vulgare) several times, at different stages of growth, and with different parts of the plant.

This time, we used the tops, and parts of the stems. Almost all plant actually. We had mordanted our (organic cotton) tee shirts with alum. I used rubber bands for P's Tshirt & mine, and also marbles, for U's Tshirt. Chris got another Tshirt dyed with another plant. (coming soon)

This was in the dye pot ...

And this is my Tshirt, right out of the pot ... folded, then unfolded

And these are the three Tshirts, dry & ironed. Mine, P's & then U's.

The last photos don't do justice. The yellow isn't really bright but it's still a nice one. Still very sunny, but it doesn't look so on these last photos.

I'm looking forward to tie dyeing with other clothes & other plants ! It's exciting !

oxox

more dyeing coming soon

2011-08-22T17:10:00.000+02:00

hello everyone,

sorry for the lack of update, this summer has been busy, and I even managed to dye several times. Some with materials I had already used, and some that I had never tried. I will blog about them all soon, I'm trying to be up to date with everything online & offline (back to school for my boys in 2 weeks) but I hope to blog about them this week. (or at least part of them)

I wanted to thank you all for stopping by, for taking time to leave a word or two, it is always very much appreciated. I've awfully neglected to answer all the questions you might have asked in the comment sections, along the months, so if you have any, ask it in today's post & I will reply in a future post, I promise. Just keep in mind that I'm a simple experimenter, I'm no expert at all.

ficus carica

2011-06-27T12:07:00.000+02:00

That's the binominal name of the common fig. ("figue" in French for the fruit, "figuier" for the tree itself)

Beware if you pick fig's leaves, the sap of the fig's green parts is irritant for human skin.

The Common Fig is widely known for its edible fruit & can be harvested up to four times per year. Thousands of cultivars, most named, have been developed or come into existence as human migration brought the fig to many places outside its natural range. It has been an important food crop for thousands of years, and was also thought to be highly beneficial in the diet.

The edible fig is one of the first plants that was cultivated by humans. Nine subfossil figs of a parthenocarpic type dating to about 9400–9200 BC were found in the early Neolithic village Gilgal I (in the Jordan Valley, 13 km north of Jericho).

Turkey was the top fig-producer (280,000 tonnes), followed by Egypt (170,000 tonnes) and other Mediterranean countries.

(source : wikipedia)

We used the leaves only, and hot dyed. (not solar dyed, I mean) All fibers were premordanted with potassium carbonate, and then mordanted with alum, except the silks that I didn't mordant, this time.

Given the size of the leaves, we didn't need to collect a lot. And given the amount of leaves of a single fig tree, it's really interesting to dye with it if it grows abundantly where you live (like it is a bit the case here) ! And believe me, as much as I don't enjoy that much eating figs themselves, the fragrance that filled the whole apartment when they were in the pot (and even the dye bath itself, afterwards), was such a delight that you might even want to do it for the fragrance only ! It had a heavenly scent of summers past ... very hard to describe, but impossible to forget ! (always remember to use pots that you won't use for food, but specifically for dyeing !)

Wasn't the dye bath gorgeous in itself ?! The golden yellow was so strong & smelled so good !

Here are the results ... of course yellow ! (what would you expect ?! specially from leaves ?) Of course now I must have achieved a dozen tones of yellows, since it is the easiest color to achieve in naturally dyeing, and as much as I'd love to achieve other colors (or surprising ones like it has already been in the past), I'm trying to satisfy myself with what (local) Nature gives me. Even if I've been dyeing for two years now, I feel like I'm only at my baby steps ... still and always experimenting, and that's really the fun part of it.

again three at once

2011-05-16T10:29:00.000+02:00

We (hubby & I, as always) had dyed this past weekend & earlier this week. Now that it is ready to show, here the results. And like last time, here are results of 3 dyeings. And I love them three, I hope you will too. I modified two of them with iron, to darken the color. It will be a photo heavy post I must say. (once again) But since weekends are more & more quiet on the web, I thought I'd better share these with you today.
I'll go backward & will start with the last dyeing actually. We used rosa canina (wild rose), and picked rose hips last week during our day out.

We did modified this one with iron. I like that it gave different taupe/brownish gray hues, depending on which fiber. On a side note, I had cut each and every rose hip with a pair of scissors, which had caused me a blister & to get stung by microscopic thorns. But that's ok ;-)

The second dyeing was made with geranium ropbertianum (herb robert). If you have a garden, there's a chance it's growing in it. You can easily miss it if you don't pay attention, but once you know what it is, its red stems will catch yours eyes always. It doesn't smell really nice when you pick it, but it fades when you dye with it. And I think, given that it grows rather abundantly, that it's a good source of dye. We did NOT modify this dye.

A slightly greenish gold, don't you think ? Really really interesting. We used the whole plant, sometimes roots included. Leaves, flowers, stems, and roots.

And the last dyeing, but not the least. We used rhamnus alaternus (Italian buckthorn) once again (we had used it twice in June 2010 & we had got a very bright yellow, and also a mustard yellow) This year, we modified it with iron, to see the difference. We were nicely surprised.

Luscious, right ? What I love is that it has a slightly "antique" look to it, though I hope I don't sound stupid saying this. Anyway, we are happy with this one too, and I hope we'll do it again, since this shrub grows abundantly in wild areas over here. And modified or not, it gives amazing results.

Okaaaay ... I think it'll be enough for one day, right ? I hope you enjoyed these as much as we enjoyed making them !

three dyes, two yellows

2011-05-03T16:04:00.000+02:00

I have dyeings to show you today. Not one, not two, but three !!

The first was made very quickly, a couple of weeks ago, after hubby had peeled a beetroot. (beta vulgaris) I have some fibers already mordanted (with alum) so we gave it a little go. Here is the result, a soft & subtle beige.

The two other dyes were made this past Saturday, right after we came back home from my inlaws'. (since we picked the natural materials for dyeing, over there) But first we had to mordant fibers. I decided to mordant enough materials for making six dyeings. And this time, we also mordanted cotton prints, so we can see how it'll dye too, and I'll probably use them too.

The first material I used is something I showed you in the last posts (on my regular blog) ... it was ribwort plantain / plantago lanceolata. We picked leaves only, and it grows so abundantly (wild) here, that we really did no harm at all. It actually grows a bit everywhere, even in urbanized areas (I've already seen that). So here are the photos of the dye bath & of the results.

A lovely yellow, soft on the cottons & linen, and a little stronger on silk & silk yarn. (as usual) But a nice one, I think.

The second material I used for the other (and last) dye, was a plant I already used in the past, for dyeing, but at a different stage of its growth. I'm talking about (wild) fennel / foeniculum vulgare. This time, instead of using the tops (flower heads), we used the feathery leaves that are abundant & that are very fragrant. On the photo below, you can spot the fennel leaves AND the plantain leaves !

And now the dye bath and photos of the results.

And for you to see the difference of the yellows between the two dyes, I took a comparison shot, which I think is interesting to see.

Plantain on the left, fennel on the right.

And lastly, but still related to my dyeings, here are the last business cards (in recycled paper, mind you) I ordered from Moo, a couple of weeks ago, when they were having a 25% off sale. They will ship with the orders from the new shop, from now on.

They are credit card sized, and I have enough room below my infos (on the back) for writing a short message, and will save me to include an extra card with it.

natural tie dyeing with allium cepa

2011-05-02T22:33:00.000+02:00

(This dyeing was made at the end of March 2011, I'm trying to catch up with my dyeing reports here. There are two dyeings before this one, that I posted today, and that were done mid March & mid February)

After making a trial run with the rosemary dye bath & exhausted onion dye bath, it was about time we actually tried to tie dye actual size piece of fabric, which in my mind, meant CLOTHES !! We bought four teeshirts (one of the each of us) and a tank top (for me), all in 100% organic cotton, and I also cut a piece of cotton gauze the size of a scarf, and we pre mordanted them with carbonate potassium, to remove that damned chemical "finishing" (sorry I couldn't find a better term for that) that textile industry uses for making clothes "so perfect" on the shelves & in the shops. Then we mixed ten liters of water & one liter of soy milk, and soaked all the teeshirts & scarf in that, and let them there for a whole week. We rinced, and prepared our dye bath with onion skins. (well, actually, two dye baths) After the teeshirts were dry, I tied the boys' & my tank top. The boys wanted stripes, and I wanted to test "circles" (of some sorts) So I experimented. My parents are not hobo, no hippies, and I have never tie dyed in my whole life, not even wore a single tie dyed teeshirt ! So this one was a first for me !

I used rubber bands, and also big marbles for my tank top. So here are now the results, all rinced, dry & all ! Happy !!

like our own little clothes shop ! LOL

I love how the scarf turned out !

P's teeshirt

and a close up

U's teeshirt

and a close up

my tank top

... and close ups ...

and finally ... Mr, modelling his teeshirt ! (I have one myself too)

All in all, a good experience. The boys were really excited by the results, and me too (hubby too, of course) to say the least ! We want to do that again sometime soon, but we'll have to get more organic teeshirts first !

Of course the dyes won't last forever, but quite frankly, I won't last forever too !! I can overdye them if I want/can, when it will be needed. And when their lives will be over (as a teeshirt), then I will reuse them, and will keep this memory of tie dyeing our clothes for the first time, very close in my heart.

rosmarinus officinalis

2011-05-02T22:23:00.001+02:00

(This dyeing was made mid-March 2011, I'm trying to catch up with my dyeing reports here, scroll to the previous post for the eldest of my most recent posts/dyeings)

I used rosemary, also known in latin as Rosmarinus officinalis. It grows wild abundantly here so it made a particularly good subject for my own experiments with not endangered, local & abundantly (if possible) growing species.

botanical print (in the public domain now) by Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves. It is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which also includes many other herbs.

The name rosemary derives from the Latin name rosmarinus, which is from "dew" (ros) and "sea" (marinus), or "dew of the sea" because in many locations it needs no other water than the humidity carried by the sea breeze to live.
Flowering, very common in a mature and healthy specimen, blooms in summer in the north; but can be everblooming in warm-winter climates and is variable in color, being white, pink, purple, or blue. Since it is attractive and tolerates some degree of drought, it is also used in landscaping, especially in areas having a Mediterranean climate.

Rosemary has a very old reputation for improving memory, and has been used as a symbol for remembrance (during weddings, war commemorations and funerals) in Europe and Australia. Mourners would throw it into graves as a symbol of remembrance for the dead. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia says, "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance." (Hamlet, iv. 5.) One modern study lends some credence to this reputation.
In the Middle Ages, rosemary was associated with wedding ceremonies - the bride would wear a rosemary headpiece and the groom and wedding guests would all wear a sprig of rosemary, and from this association with weddings rosemary evolved into a love charm. Newly wed couples would plant a branch of rosemary on their wedding day. If the branch grew it was a good omen for the union and family.
Rosemary was also stuffed into poppets (cloth dolls) in order to attract a lover or attract curative vibrations for illness. It was believed that placing a sprig of rosemary under a pillow before sleep would repel nightmares.
Potential side effects : Recent European research has shown that rosemary interferes with the absorption of iron in the diet, which indicates that it should not be used internally by persons with iron deficiency anemia.
Rosemary in culinary or therapeutic doses is generally safe. Rosemary essential oil may have epileptogenic properties, as a handful of case reports over the past century have linked its use with seizures in otherwise healthy adults or children. Rosemary essential oil is potentially toxic if ingested. Large quantities of rosemary leaves can cause adverse reactions, such as coma, spasm, vomiting, and pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) that can be fatal. Avoid consuming large quantities of rosemary especially if pregnant or breastfeeding.

I removed all the leaves from the stems (yes, that took me long), and put them into two glass jars (big ones, but they were not big enough for putting it all in one only) with water, and let them soak for a good couple of days, sometimes I would put them on the heaters.

And then, I poured the content of the two jars in the pot, and carefully very gently simmered them. Then I drained the leaves, and added my fibers in the yellow dyebath & let them simmered them too, very very gently, I was really carefully this time to not let the heat get too high. I haven't overheated & I think it was for the best.

So here are the results of the hot dyeing with rosemary, and as usual, all fibers were premordanted with alum.

Nice, right ?? I was pleasantly surprised.

I also did something else on Sunday afternoon. I tried to naturally tie and dye for the first time ! I used an onion exhausted dyebath from last December, that I had saved carefully & kept in the fridge for a future use. It hadn't changed at all & I was pretty happy about that. So I took two pieces of fabrics, one in silk, one in linen, and tried to make a simple pattern with rubberbands. (I think now that these rubberbands were too thick, and that I shouldn't have used linen neither, which was, according to me, too thick too, for this kind of experiments ... nevermind, lesson learnt)

so this is the piece of silk :

As the piece of linen didn't come out as good as I had hoped for, I decided to overdye it by throwing it in the rosemary hot dyeing that was going on. And this is how it came :

I really enjoyed the process & the result, and it really makes me feel to go buy organic cotton teeshirts for the four of us, and premordant them with soy milk, for as long as I can wait, and then try to tie-and-dye them with plants.

cladonia foliacea endiviifolia

2011-05-02T22:17:00.000+02:00

Long time no see ... oh my, I'm confused.

I have moved my (regular) blog back in February, and had been posting my dyeing results there, but I've noticed that there are still people coming from here (this blog) to the (new) regular blog, so I thought I'd keep on posting here too.

This dyeing was made by mid February 2011

I know you usually don't hot dye with lichen, but rather with ammonia, but there is NO way we can do it here, in an apartment, with no garden or garage. So hot dyeing experiment it was. We mordanted the materials with alum.

This lichen grows quite abundantly in our local wild areas. We didn't pick a whole lot, anyway. We know lichen takes a lot of time for growing, and that animals eat them, so we were really reasonable.

v i b u r n u m * t i n u s // second dye

2010-12-06T10:21:00.002+01:00

we had already tried Viburnum Tinus (aka laurestine) almost exactly a year ago. We went to pick some by the end of November, at the very same place as last year.

we used the same technique, the same mordant, but we did not use the iron bucket. Did it change something, I don't know. Most probably. Here are the results :

I think the results (and even the phases during the process) look like a lot of the dye with phillyrea angustifolia.

p h i l l y r e a * a n g u s t i f o l i a // second dye

2010-12-06T10:14:00.002+01:00

I am SO late blogging about this one ... oh my ...
we had tried phillyrea angustifolia a second time in the middle on October. The first time was back in early October, and that second time, it gave us a slightly different hue of green, but that I love just as much. Loo :

a little reminder about how much unpredictable naturally dyeing is ... we used the same technique, the same plant, picked at the same place, but two weeks later.

naturally dyed silk yarns rainbow

2010-11-04T13:07:00.001+01:00

I think I have a couple of posts/dyeings I need to catch up with, but there is a photo you must have seen on my Flickr stream, but in case you haven't, here it is. It is a rainbow kind of circle/wheel, made with the most interesting dyeings I've made.

only looking at it makes me happy :)

oh ... I meant to say that there are only 8 zines left now, if you are interested.

thank you for stopping by :)

x a n t h i u m * s t r u m a r i u m

2010-10-13T14:34:00.001+02:00

before dyeing with the plant that I'm going to show you, I had never heard about it, nor I had never noticed it anywhere. Hubby and I spotted this when we had a long walk in town, a couple of weeks ago. During that walk, we had spotted & picked other plants to dye with.

this plant is called Xanthium strumarium. It is a native to both Eurasia and North America. It is a common summer annual, about 2 to 4 feet tall. It is a monoecious plant. Xanthium strumarium belongs to the Asteraceae family.

in Greek, ξανθοσ (xanthos) means yellow, yellowish, greenish, and some say the name Xanthium was given from the ancient name of some plant, the fruit of which was used to dye the hair yellow (blond).

in Latin, struma means scrofula so that strumarium would mean of or pertaining to the scrofula, that leaves retractile and unsightly scars, and the epithet might then refer to the shape of the fruits.

the dyebath

as usual we had mordanted our fibers with alum. I do think the results are very satisfactory ... the dye was well absorbed even on cotton & linen. Very interesting indeed, as this plant grows on wastelands & such. If you wonder which part of the plant we used, we only picked & used the fruits, these spiky little things I've taken a photo of, with the dyed fabrics.

s a m b u c u s * e b u l u s

2010-10-04T15:00:00.001+02:00

last Wednesday, hubby & I went out for a long walk, around town. If you could see us, you'd see that we're constantly looking on the waysides, looking at plants, trees & flowers, that are oh so easily overlooked & forgotten about, more particularly when you're driving or when you don't care at all. But, we are by foot, and we care, and we are always on the lookout for new plants to dye with !

that's how we found Sambucus ebulus, aka danewort. We first picked it thinking it was elderberries, but once home, and atfer looking online & in our books, it was not elderberries (though it is an herbaceous species of elder), but danewort. (or Dane Weed, Danesblood, Dwarf Elder, European Dwarf Elder, Walewort)

we picked a paper bag full of these, only the berries, not the leaves. We used them the same afternoon for (hot) dyeing, of course. It smelled good, in my opinion. (the fibers are, as usual, mordanted with alum)

I must add that we have not modified it at all. I even made my best for the dyed materials not to touch any surface that had been in contact with soap or any detergent. I know it will be light sensitive, but for the moment being, it will stay away from the sun, waiting for me to use it.

solar dyeing // v i t i s * v i n i f e r a

2010-10-04T14:11:00.001+02:00

The south of France is a land of vineyards. It's not like Burgundy, but with the approximately 300 days of sun we get each year, grapes don't have too much difficulties to grow & get sweet & juicy. Because it grows a lot here, I though about grabbing a couple of red/dark grapes, to try solar dyeing with them. That's what I did. I picked the grapes (Vitis vinifera) you will see on the following photos, kept the "balls" only, filled a big jar with them, crushed them by hand (this part was fun, and believe me or not, not staining) and then put the (mordanted with alum) fibers in the jar & left them for 11 days.

although I'm not a big fan of purple color, I must say that I fell in love with this one !

one other reasons why I love dyeing with plants ! I'm rediscovering each color, each difference in a same hue. I've always enjoyed each & every color of the world, but I'm loving even more now I know how to get them naturally.

h e l i a n t h u s * a n n u u s

2010-10-03T23:15:00.000+02:00

fourth post in a row, I know, I should have written & posted them all one after the other, right after they were done, but it was impossible. So there, today's last post will talk about the dye hubby & I made with sunflowers (heliantus annuus) head. My mom, returning from her summer home (with my dad), picked five of them in a field, in the south western France, where their home is. She kept them fresh until she visited me, two days after picking them. I had told her about my wish to try to dye with them, that's why she had picked some for me.

we mordanted our fabrics with alum (as usual) and boiled the heads, but keeping a small part of the upper part of the stem. (where it is attached to the head itself)

the result is a soft, delicate shade of green, I really heart it. It's so different from the green we achieved with phillyrea angustifolia (previous post), & from the greens we achieved either with fennel or sage. They're all so different & so unique. And I love them all.

p h i l l y r e a * a n g u s t i f o l i a

2010-10-03T23:00:00.002+02:00

I live in the south of France, you probably already know. I have moved a lot these last ten years, first with the man of my life before we got married, then, along the way, we had two babies, who are now 6 & 8. We travelled a bit around the country, for hubby's work, and in fact, really got settled down, back in our native region (around Montpellier) in July 2009, when we moved for the last time. (please girls, cross your fingers for me that it will be the last time, thanks !!) Since that time, we've decided to explore our local region like we had never done before. In a year & a half (or almost) of living again in the south where we grew up, I (and hubby, and our sons too) have learnt SO much more than what I learnt about the local nature since I was born. I (we) am (are) so happy & proud to learn a bit more every time we go exploring. May it be a specie of butterfly, trees or flowers or any other plant.

the wild areas here are called garrigue, and is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast, where the climate is ameliorated, but where annual summer drought conditions obtain. (quoting Wikipedia) There are so many plants that we should have known forever as we'd lived here since we were born (except those ten years when we moved around the country) Well, as the end of summer made colorful fruits/drupes in the landscape, we could discover a plant we had never managed to spot, despite the fact that it grows abondantly in the garrigue !!

the plant I'm talking about is called "phillyrea angustifolia". It is a flowering plant from the Oleaceae family, and is in some way, a cousin to the olive tree. (though the fruits/drupes of the phillyrea are not edible for humans) Hubby insisted to gather some (something like 6 big handfuls) and try dyeing with them. I feared that the fact it was from the Oleaceae family would make the dye fail & become greasy & all. But nope. As the dye bath was bubbling, we spied some clues about the final color to expect ... I'll let you watch the photos now. (we only used the drupes/fruits, not the leaves)

so ... what do you think about this shade of green ?!! totally unexpected, right ?! This is one of the reasons why I love dyeing with plants so much ... you are always up to the most wonderful surprises !!!

of course the silk took better than the linen or cotton, but it wasn't too bad, I think. What I love best about this experiment, is that it is NOT a plant known for dyeing ! There !!!

r o s a * c a n i n a // first try

2010-10-03T22:34:00.000+02:00

I've written "first try" in the title because I would love to try this again, a second time, but doing things differently.

so, hubby & I gathered rosehips (rosa canina) by the middle of September. After mordanting our fibers with alum, we made the dyebath with the rosehips, and once the fibers got into the bath (once again I overheated & ruined the silk's shine, not that I didn't learn from the previous time -read previous post- but I made these two dyes at the same time ... not a good idea, apparently !), we poured everything in our "used-to-be-stainless-steel-but-isn't-anymore" bucket (remember ? yes, THAT bucket) & it stayed overnight in it. So I understand that the final color would have been different if we hadn't poured it in the iron bucket. That's why I'd love to try again, if the season isn't over.

this said, I'm not disliking the color ! But I'm still biting my own tongue for overheating the bath. Oh well, nevermind. We learn from failures, not from successes.

f o e n i c u l u m * v u l g a r e // second try

2010-10-03T22:21:00.002+02:00

well, September has certainly been a busy month for me & hubby, and I'm not speaking about our boys going back to school ;-)
we've been dyeing, taking advantage of the last third of summer (considering that July & August were the first two thirds) & of the bounty Nature can provide at this time of the year.

so ... we decided to try fennel (foeniculum vulgare) once again. But we didn't pick it at the same place as in August, and it was already 3 weeks after the first dye with fennel. The fennel wasn't in full bloom anymore, and instead of green, the plant was rather yellow. Well, that's how it translated on fiber too ... it got yellow instead of green !

I made one mistake too ... I over heated & the silk lost its shine. (lesson learnt, this won't happen to me. Ever. Again. I swear)

as usual, all materials have been mordanted with alum

so beasides the lesson I learnt from overheating, the other thing I have learnt is that a same plant, at a different stage of its growth, will give different results.

color palettes

2010-09-15T13:44:00.003+02:00

I guess I'm into color palettes these days ... after making the zine, they are most definitely into my mind right now.

I grabbed the most successfully dyed silk yarns I've had, and tried to mix & match to make nice color combinations.

ginkgo biloba - immortelle - Italian buckthorn - onion - onion

immortelle - Italian buckthorn - onion - onion

eucalyptus - bilberry - blackberry

laurestine - sage - fennel

sage - onion - oakmoss

blackberry - eucalyptus

Italian buckthorn - eucalyptus

fennel - immortelle - bilberry

blackberry - immortelle - bilberry

immortelle - bilberry

to close this colorful post, I'd love to invite you to read this post on Whip Up : the most wonderful Margie Oomen is the guest blog today, and she also very kindly interviewed me, which is a real honor ! Thank you Margie & thank you Whip Up !

You can read the post HERE.

now please have the most wonderful & colorful day ! Thanks a lot for stopping by !

EARTH PALETTE #1

2010-09-13T14:00:00.001+02:00

(sorry if you've already read this post on my regular blog, but I cut & pasted over here)

exciting morning for me, girls ! Please let me share with you my very first zine

EARTH PALETTE (#1)

EARTH PALETTE is a 26 pages, full color, collection of photos of (some of the) dyeing experiments (hot & solar) I have made between November 2009 & August 2010.

I have illustrated the pages with drawings of the part of the plant I have used for dyeing.

it does NOT contain any instruction about how to dye with plants. It must be considered as a record book of my own experiments, something that may inspire you to start your own experiments, or simply something to enjoy for its simple beauty.

there is a small envelope in the last page containing a little extra ...

it will be wrapped with a green twine & a handmade gift tag (illustrated by me, and that you may reuse)

it has been printed in a limited edition of 25 copies. I will consider making a second batch only if they all sell out.

thank you so much for bearing all my zine talking these past weeks. I will do my best to make a new Earth Palette zine each year, and if I end making many experiments, maybe more often. Thank you for your kindness, everyone, you have been amazingly supportive ! It really means the world to me !

solar dyeing // r u b u s * f r u t i c o s u s

2010-09-12T22:48:00.001+02:00

the day my parents visited & brought me the hollyhocks (see previous post), they also brought me blackberries (growing wild, of course) (rubus fruticosus). They had frozen these as well, in order to keep them at their best.

I had mordanted (with alum) enough fibers for two different dyes. But I thought " what the heck, let's make an experiment inside the experiment, and you'll rince half soon, and the other half later". And that's exactly what I did.

I rinced a first half the same day I rinced the alcea rosea solar dyeing, which is to say, after four days in the jar only. So this is the result of the first batch.

and so, I rinced the other half two days ago, which makes ... er, after 11 days in the jar. Not that much neither, I agree. This is the result after 11 days :

and for the comparison now ... (first batch at the bottom, second batch on top)

what I note ? that the silk got a bit darker & pinker after an extra week in the jar, but on the contrary, the linen got lighter. The linen was more purple after 4 days only.

interesting, right ? worth the little experiment, for sure.

solar dyeing // a l c e a * r o s e a

2010-09-12T22:13:00.000+02:00

my parents brought me a small handful of dark hollyhocks (alcea rosea). They had to freeze them in order for me to use them, as they had been travelling with them (fresh) & then they froze them at home. I used the flowers (

I must say that I kept this solar dyeing only four small days. I know, it's very short, but I live in an appartment (no balcony, no garage etc) and it was beginning to stink too much. With a garden, I would have dared to keep it way much longer, but no such luck here, so I had to rince it & dry.

I must say that I'm quite impressed with the result after such a short amount of time ! Something I would like to try again, most probably next summer, I suppose. As usual, all fibers were mordanted with alum, beforehand.

linen & cotton crochet lace & cotton crochet doily (handmade & vintage)

silk & silk yarn

the patterns on the silk was made because I had wrapped the flowers in the silk, and then tied with the silk yarn.

so, yes, something to try again.

Naturally Dyeing Shop

2010-09-03T11:34:00.000+02:00

I have created a set of cards with three of the photos I've been taking along the dyeings I've been making. More sets will follow, I suppose.

for the time being, you can find all the sets (new things will come as soon as possible, next week if everything goes right !) in the Naturally Dyeing Shop !

thank you for stopping by !

f o e n i c u l u m * v u l g a r e

2010-08-30T14:44:00.001+02:00

hubby & I spent the day togther, just the two of us, on Saturday. We explored an (natural) area where we had already been, back in June, with the kids, at that time. We were looking for something to dye with, but it was not the season anymore for the Italian buckthorn & the immortelle flowers we had picked back then. I had the sudden idea of picking something else that was growing abondantly here, and that is not endangered at all, and not dangerous neither. Fennel. Wild fennel, of course. Also know as foeniculum vulgare. I love this plant, fresh or dry, in the spring, summer, autumn or winter.

so we grabbed a bunch. Not that much, in fact. We wanted to try before making more eventually. We made the (hot) dyebath the same day, on Saturday.

And on Sunday afternoon, we mordanted fabrics (the usual) with alum, and finished the process. It stayed overnight in the bath, and I rinced this morning & put it to dry. Now it's ready to show.

I am very happy with the results, and also satisfied with my first feeling that it would dye nicely.

looking back a little

2010-08-26T21:41:00.001+02:00

Before dyeing with sage (previous post, but posted today as well), I had a little simple fun playing with the silks I have dyed. I chose the most interesting colors, and juxtaposed them in a sort of rainbow way. I think I could get lost in them. I am so very happy & satisfied I started dyeing with plants, with the help of my husband (because, yes, we're dyeing with four hands, and two minds), and with the motivations from friends & fellow dyers. Each dye is a new adventure, and I'm trying to make the most of each season and of what Nature provides us locally.

from top to bottom
solar dyed with bilberries
hot dyeing with eucalyptus
solar dyed with white mulberries
hot dyed with oakmoss
hot dyed with immortelle (flower)
hot dyed with Italian buckthorn
hot dyed with onion peels/skin (2nd dye)
hot dyed with onion peels/skins (1st dye)

clockwise, starting from 3.15
hot dyed with ginkgo biloba
hot dyed with laurestine (viburnum tinus)
solar dyed with bilberries
hot dyed with eucalyptus
hot dyed with oakmoss
hot dyed with onion peels/skins
hot dyed with onion peels/skniw
hot dyed with Italian buckthorn
hot dyed with immortelle (flower)

I love how it forms a lovely autumnal color palette. All these golden & profound hues really makes me happy !

s a l v i a * o f f i c i n a l i s

2010-08-26T17:26:00.001+02:00

The other day, when I was at my inlaws', I decided to pick a bit of sage (salvia officinalis) before we left, with dyeing with them, in mind. Here is what I picked :

and after mordanting my fabrics (the usual stuff) with alum (as usual), I hot dyed. (not solar dyed) And this is the result :

... which I think is rather lovely. A type of green I had not achieved yet. I'm happy I decided to dye with it, because it clearly is interesting.

solar dyeing // v a c c i n i u m * m y r t i l l u s

2010-08-22T23:07:00.000+02:00

this is it, I rinced that solar dyeing. I've been over my own hopes, and managed to let the jar unopened for 18 days ! (which, I know, may sound ridiculous for some of you)

so the beginning of this solar dyeing was on August 04th, when we were on vacation in local mountains. I had planned to solar dye, so I had mordanted few bits with alum, as usual. I had brought a jar, with the fabrics in it, and filled with water.

what I had in mind was to pick bilberries (the European & Asian species of blueberry), aka vaccinium myrtillus, and crush them with the fabrics, add cold water, close the jar & wait. Well, that's what I did.

this photo below was taken half way ... nine days after starting the dye

and these are the results, 18 days after. I am amazed (why should I be ?!) that silk took so well the color, almost didn't bleed at all, and stayed dark & purple with blue spots ... while the linen & cotton did bleed more, and ended being blue. A lovely blue nontheless !

My mom told me she's going to pick (wild) blackberries for me to solar dye with them. I hope she really can because I'm eager to try, although I have already picked something else to dye with, and I hope to do it ASAP.

e v e r n i a * p r u n a s t r i

2010-08-16T13:11:00.000+02:00

well, first, I think that the lichen I used for dyeing this past weekend really is oakmoss, also known as Evernia Prunastri. I picked some last week, during our three-days trip to local mountains. (not higher than 1500 meters high)

(photo NOT from this trip, but found locally)

I mordanted my fabrics & fibers with alum. (like usual, if you follow my blog ... and if you are new to my blog, I try to always dye a bit of each of these : silk, linen, cotton crochet lace, silk yarn) But before mordating, a couple of days before, I had simmered/gently boiled the lichens, and had kept the dye bath in my bucket, which used to be stainless steel, but which isn't anymore. So the dye bath stayed there for three days approx.

then, I put the dyebath back in the dye pot, simmered again, put the mordanted fabrics/fibers in, simmered the whole thing a bit, and then poured the dyebath & the fabrics/fibers BACK in the bucket. And left them for a good couple of hours. Then I rinced & put to dry in the shade. Iron when it was still a bit damp. And here's the result :

it almost didn't bleed at all, and I think the result is really subtle & delicate at the same time. I am very pleased, and can't wait to have another opportunity to pick some. Don't worry though, I don't pick much at all, and where I picked these, there was a real bounty of this precise lichen. I know myself that lichen is a source of food for many animals, and my point is not to steal food from wild animals !

a l l i u m * c e p a ... once again

2010-08-15T09:47:00.000+02:00

as I must have told you before, my mother-in-law is a great cook and she uses really lots & lots of onions. (the yellow kind, not the red kind) And I've asked her to save the peels/skins for me, and she gladly does so. (so sweet) Last time I dyed with them was last May, three months ago, and I was eager to do a new bath. I've mordanted silk, linen, silk yarn, cotton crochet lace & vintage + handmade cotton crochet doilies, with alum. Boiled the onion skins/peels, then sank the fibers when ready. I didn't leave overnight, and rinced after a good couple of hours. It did bleed a bunch this time. And believe me or not, but onion skins/peels dye is the one that stain my bath tube the most ! And my nails too.

really, how can you resist getting such a hue with something that anyone can find in the kitchen ?

yesterday, I've also dyed with something I picked last week during our three days in the mountains. The result is very interesting, as I hadn't managed to get that precise hue before. Can't wait to show, most probably tomorrow :)

solar dyeing // avocado skins : results

2010-08-14T17:35:00.001+02:00

before leaving on summer vacations mid-July, I had tried solar dyeing with avocado skins. I had mordanted fabrics (as usual, linen, silk, silk yarn, cotton crochet lace, vintage+handmade cotton crochet mini doily) with alum. We had eaten those avocadoes a good couple days before I could actually mordant the fabrics, so the skins were not as fresh as new.

I must admitt, I was a bit in a hurry, it was the day before we left (for two weeks), and I could (well, should) have left them there for longer. Even the photos don't do justice. And next time that I'll try to dye with them, I'll hot dye, and will use fresh(er) skins. The result is a (very) light peachy tone, with hints of yellow. It's prettier & a bit darker in person, but oh well.

stay tuned for new experiments, I've been dyeing three times these days. Two are almost ready to show, one last will have to wait a little bit more. (yes, that's a solar dyeing)

thanks for stopping by & reading !

oxox

Sonia

solar dyeing // morus alba : results

2010-06-23T14:02:00.002+02:00

I left the solar dyeing (with white mulberries / morus alba) for a week (only, you may think) and decided to rince it yesterday. It did smell strong, as usual. There was no mold apparently, thanks to the candle wax, but boy it did stink. (a bit like roquefort cheese, phew LOL) Once rinced, it didn't smell at all, but a vetegal normal smell. I had mordanted a small piece of silk, a small piece of (white) linen & a small length of (white) cotton crochet lace.

I'm not good at giving colors a name, or at finding the right name for the right color, so I'll simply say it's a greyish, blueish, aqua-ish green, that I really really love.

the result is such (for me) that I CAN NOT wait to try other kinds of berries, this summer, whenever it will be possible. It will be impossible in July as we'll be away half of it, but I hope August will bring many opportunities of dyeing !

happy summer everyone, happy dyeing and thanks for stopping by !

h e l i c h r y s u m * s t o e c h a s

2010-06-16T15:48:00.002+02:00

wow, after a couple of months of absence, that's a lot of dyeing happenings ! :D We decided to dye with helichrysum stoechas, that you may know under the name of immortelle, in English or in French. It's a yellow flower, smelling strong like curry (I swear !). They grow wild in the place we visited last weekend (where we picked the Italian buckthorn & white mulberries ... see previous posts).

hubby had collected approx. the equivalent of 6 big handfuls (approximately, I say, I didn't count), therefore I didn't dye a big quantity. The dye itself was yellow, and of course DID smell like curry A LOT ! The fabrics did stayed overnight in the dyebath.

and the result is a lovely yellow, I really like it a lot. The Italian buckthorn gave quite a mustardy yellow, and that yellow is a more subtle one. I'll let you judge.

I tend to think that the final color really looks like the color of the flowers themselves. What do you think ?

for the comparison, here's a photo of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd dyes with Italian buckthorn (rhamnus alaternus) ... and with this very dye with immortelle (helichrysum stoechas)

thank you very much for stopping by & for reading ! :)

solar dyeing // morus alba

2010-06-15T22:05:00.003+02:00

the place where we found the Italian buckthorn (see previous post) last weekend gave us materials for making two other dyes, but I'll share with you today this first one. I can't show you the result right away as it is a solar dyeing. It's practically impossible to find wild strawberries or raspberries or blackberries growing wild VERY locally, but we did find a berry that was already ripe as of today, and it grows in a tree, that we found where we went last weekend. I'm talking about white mulberry / morus alba / mûrier blanc. (in French) Hubby picked a small handful, and I thought it'd be a good idea to use them for solar dyeing.

so yesterday, in preparation to several dyes (which all happened this afternoon), we mordanted silks, linens, cotton crochet lace & silk yarn with alum.

I simply added water to keep them moist until the moment I used them for dyeing. And I think it rather looked lovely as is :)

so ... I mashed the mulberries in a bowl (for dyeing purpose only, obviously, even though these mulberries are poisenous), with a stone as mashing tool. Then I grabbed the small pieces (a piece of silk + a piece of linen + a piece of cotton crochet lace) I wanted to dye (trying to contraint myself to dye few quantity, so that the result shall be better) and "mixed" the fabrics & mashed mulberries. Poured everything in the big glass jar, and added a cup or two of cold water. Mixed some more. Then added a stone to keep everything away from the liquid surface, as I poured candle wax (as India Flint kindly suggested to me ... thank you so very much again for the priceless tip, India !) to prevent the formation of mold. Closed the jar, and now it's ready to dye with the help of the sun .... which, ahem, has totally disappeared (my luck !) this past week & this current week. (we've never had such rainy & cold months of May & June !)

I'll share the results here as soon as they'll be ready to show.

we dyed again with Italian buckthorn this afternoon, and obtained approximately the same results. (fabrics are drying as I'm typing) If they're drastically different in the light of day light, I'll share the fabrics in my next post.

in the next post I will also share the result of another dye (3 in one day is my current maximum !! thanking again my sweet hubby, without him I couldn't have done it at all ... he's the one who went back to the place to collect the dyeing materials ! I have the best husband in the world) Won't say more for today ... :) you'll have to come back to see what I'm talking about ...

thank you so much for stopping by & reading ! And for your comments !

r h a m n u s * a l a t e r n u s

2010-06-14T15:51:00.001+02:00

this past weekend, we went exploring a place we didn't know before. It turned out to be quite an amazing piece of nature, made of red clay (presence of iron oxide) & that really made us think of North American canyons or something like that. (I'm pretty sure there are such places all around the world !) Anyway. Hubby & I noticed the presence of an evergreen that was in one of the dyeing books we own. So we picked a couple of handfuls of leaves & drupes(they are not endangered species here), and decided to use them for dyeing. Rhamnus alaternus is know in English under the name of "Italian buckthorn", and in French under the name of "nerprun alaterne". I read that other types of buckthorns were traditionally used for dyeing, but not this one. I love experimenting, don't you ?

I couldn't believe my own eyes to see such a golden, honey color appear, from green leaves & redish drupes !

so here are the final results ... you may wonder why there is a lighter dyed piece of fabric. Well, I decided to throw a piece of UNMORDANTED silk in the dyebath, to see how it would come out. Glad it did dye, even if it didn't dye like the other piece of silk (obviously !)

for your information, I mordanted all pieces(linen, silk, silk yarn, cotton crochet lace) (except that piece of silk) with alum. And hot dyed the leaves & drupes. (simmer/boil) I was so satisfied by the results, that I asked hubby (I have the most awesome hubby, and he's as much interested as me with dyeing with plants) to go collect some more. He also picked other materials that I shall use for solar dyeing. And which will be the theme of another post.

I shall dye again with it tomorrow afternoon. I'm trying to make the most of each season. :) Thanks for reading !

solar dyeing // centaurea cyanus

2010-05-25T23:19:00.001+02:00

after a not very successful result with the centaurea cyanus (=cornflower) dyebath, I decided to give these beautiful flowers "another chance", but this time, in the form of a solar dyeing.

I mordanted a piece of (smooth) silk & a piece of (white) linen & when they were ready, I added the flower heads (full, not only the petals), face down on the fabrics. I did this in my bathtube.

I tried to have them cover harmoniously the fabrics, then rolled each of them, and tied them with string. Then I put them in a big glass jar, poured warm water, and finally I added a big flat stone on top of them, before closing the jar. (which was not 100% hermetic) This is how it looked like the first day.

if you haven't been warned, it can look like a bit macabre, if you see what I mean (wewh) Then this is how it looked like on day 2, to my own surprise.

after 9 days, the liquid was blurry & started to grow a bit of mould, so I decided to rince & dry today. So these are the results on the silk ...

the final result on silk is : a general yellowness, with numerous brighter yellow spots, and here & there, blueish purple stains. A brownish zone too, at one left. The circular lines at the bottom were where the strings tied the roll.

and now, this is the final result on linen ...

the results are rather similar, but we can see them better, as silk has this delicate transparency.

I was very excited with these results ! They didn't bleed much at all, and I was SO pleased to see tiny splashes of purple/blue from the petals ! hurray ! :)

c e n t a u r e a * c y a n u s

2010-05-25T22:49:00.001+02:00

two weeks ago, hubby & I discovered a place, 5 mn by foot from the heart of the city we live in (Montpellier, France), along a frequented road, where we supposed a mix of wildflowers (well, not so wild anymore, I say !) had been sowed. There were cornflowers & poppies mostly. I have fond memories of picking very few cornflowers in wheat fields, on the heights of the little town we used to live with hubby in 2000-2003. I remember being very pregnant (with son #1) & asking hubby to pick me some :) These were really wild !

ok, shortly after I had to idea to pick some (there were really maaaaaaaany of them, the handfuls of them that we picked was totally invisible & harmless) & try to dye with them. But, first, I needed to have a little fun with the flowers & the petals, so please let me share (unless you already saw this on my blog or Flickr, last week ... then, sorry)

yes, I really had a lot of (harmless) fun ! :)

ok, so back to the dye ...

I asked my little ones to take the petals off the flowers ...

I had mordanted a piece of solk, silk yarn, a bit of cotton crochet lace & a piece of linen with alum.

as you can see, the result is rather weak, and really hard to describe. It's like a very pale greenish-yellowish-greyish something. And hard to capture on a photo, too.

oh well, nevermind. I'll try something new with them soon enough ... :)

a l l i u m * c e p a

2010-05-25T22:24:00.001+02:00

I've been dying (ahah) to dye with onions for a long time, but never got the opportunity. Of course, I don't use tons of onions myself. Some, but not THAT much, not enough for making a proper dye. BUT ... my mother-in-law does use tons of them, she's an amazing cook, and in fact she really uses lots & lots of them. So I asked her two months ago to save me the peels, and that's what she did, religiously. (yes, she's quite awesome & sweet)

and last week, I had enough to make a good dye.

I decided to mordant two pieces of silk, silk yarn, linen, and (new !) a small piece of cotton crochet lace, with alum. Then, I boiled the peels & it gave instantly a powerful dyebath.

look at that strong bath !

I can't believe how well the linen & cotton absorbed !! They didn't bleed that much, and the color is so vibrant, just perfect for autumn season. (which we are NOT, in the northern hemisphere !) I'll keep asking my MIL to save me the peels, and I hope I'll find something good to cook with lots of RED onions, so that I will try a new dye with them ! I'm hopeless, I know. :)

third dye with eucalyptus globulus

2010-05-25T22:10:00.000+02:00

I'm blushing out of shame from head to toe ... I have badly neglected this dyeing blog. Well, first I should have posted about the third dye I had made using eucalyptus globulus. It was two months ago already, yuck.

I had decided to dye with eucalyptus globulus leaves, then let the fabrics in the dye, in what used to be a stainless steel bucket, but isn't anymore, for two nights. But this is the photo of when I poured the fabrics & dye in the bucket, and just seconds later ... and it was really like magic ...

I had dyed a piece of (smooth) silk, a length of silk yarn, and a piece of (what used to be white when undyed) linen. This was the result of the third bath of dye with eucalyptus globulus ...

I must precise that the silk & silk yarn were NOT mordanted at all, while the piece of linen was mordanted with soy milk. And these are the results of the THREE dyebaths I made with eucalyptus globulus.

I would have never thought I'd achieve such a dark grey in such a way. I was really happy !

e u c a l y p t u s * g l o b u l u s

2010-03-16T18:01:00.002+01:00

My parents' neighbours have an Eucalyptus globulus growing in their backyard. Some time ago, as I was telling my mom that I'd love to dye with eucalyptus one day, she told me that her neighbours had one. I was totally amazed, as eucalyptus isn't a very common tree over here, even though in southern France. It's purely ornamental. The leaves aren't blueish at all, they're simply green, but with the slightest hint of blue. After a little research, I found that it was an Eucalyptus globulus.

e u c a l y p t u s * g l o b u l u s

It is also named Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum. It is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia. They typically grow from 30 to 55 m (98 to 180 ft) tall.The species name is from the Latin globulus, a little button, referring to the shape of the operculum.
Blue gum is one of the most extensively planted eucalypts. Its rapid growth and adaptability to a range of conditions is responsible for its popularity. It is especially well-suited to countries with a Mediterranean-type climate, but also grows well in high altitudes in the tropics.
Blue gum timber is yellow-brown, fairly heavy, with an interlocked grain, and is difficult to season. The tree is widely cultivated elsewhere in the world. It is primarily planted as a pulpwood, and also as an important fuelwood in many countries. It has poor lumber qualities due to growth stress problems, but can be used in construction, fence posts and poles.
The leaves are steam distilled to extract eucalyptus oil. E.globulus is the primary source of global eucalyptus oil production.
Blue gum flowers are considered a good source of nectar and pollen for bees.

I have decided to dye only silks first, and then to dye a piece of linen & a piece of cotton. Last Wednesday, I decided to dye silks first, as I didn't have to mordant them. I brought water to boil, then added the leaves (at least as much, in weight, as the weight of the fabrics) I let the leaves simmer very lightly for 45mn, then removed them, lowered the heat & added the silks. (a piece of silk bourette, a length of smooth silk & 8 meters of silk yarn) I use an enamel pot for this. The heat was not that strong, as the water must not move, neither the fabrics. I let the silks for another 45mn. Then got out of the fire & let in the enamel pot overnight. Then rinced them & dried them in the shade. This is the color of the dye itself, a light yellow.

And this is the result, for the silks I dyed last Sunday.

A very light & subtle yellow (or cream-ish yellow) as you can see.

Now ...
I had enough leaves to make another dye. I asked Eva for tips, as she had already dyed with eucalyptus. She referred to a book we have in common, a book I had bought thanks to her, after seeing her eco prints on her Flickr stream. That book is a treasure in itself, not only it is absolutely a delight to look at (each page is so beautiful, I swear) but is so informative, even you don't dye itself. The author is the botanical alchemist, artist & dyer, India Flint. I had bought her book "Eco Colour" a couple of months ago, but life being life, I had a bit, er, forgotten about the book, and anyway I had nothing to dye with. Then, when I had the opportunity to dye with eucalyptus, and after asking Eva, I immediately returned to her book. To my own delight.

So, after reading that she was advicing to mordant cellulosic fibers (such as the cotton & linen I was planning to dye) with soy. It was easier for me to use soy milk, so that's what I used. I soaked the two pieces in soymilk & let them more than a whole day in it. Then I rinced them & started the same process for making the dye bath with the leaves. Still in the enamel pot. Brought the water to boil, added the leaves, let simmer for 45mn, removed the leaves, added the fabrics & lowered the heat & left for 45mn. Once the time was over, I DIDN'T leave the fabrics in the enamel pot. I decided to use the what-used-to-be-stainless-steel-but-which-apparently-isn't-anymore bucket, and poured the dye bath & the fabrics in that bucket. And left it overnight. What was my surprise to see that the yellow dye bath had turned to ..... dark grey !!! I left them a little bit more, and rinced them yesterday evening & dried them in the shade all night. The final, and dry, result is a slightly brownish grey, which is absolutely delicious ! Look :

The cotton is on top left, linen on bottom left, silk bourette on top right (with silk yarn around a wooden clothespin), smooth silk on bottom right.

What can I add ? Um, yes. As India Flint & Eva pointed, the quality of water does matter. Our water is quite hard, so I added a bit of white vinegar in the water before boiling, to get at least a neutral PH water. Thank goodness I have little scientists at home, and can use PH paper as much as I want !

I am beyond excited with the results, and my mom, who should visit tomorrow, is going to bring more eucalyptus leaves, and I'm sure I'll be dyeing again with them the next few days. She is supposed to bring me an old pot in which I will be able to steam & make eco prints.

I have been a little inspired by the leaves & have painted with watercolors this morning. I hope to show something soon.

Thank you very much for reading, girls :)

j u n i p e r u s * o x y c e d r u s

2010-03-11T16:01:00.001+01:00

about three weeks ago, hubby, ous sons & I went to a day trip (well, kind of) in a wild part not very far from here. There, grow a lot (really, A LOT) of Juniperus oxycedrus. The cones (fruits) were more than mature so we picked a handful. No threatening of the local ecosystem, they are really prolific & we picked really only a handful. (OK, two hands full)

the cones, once rinced, before going in the dye bath

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the results (the lighter fabric was white linen, then clockwise, pure silk, silk bourette, and 8 meters of silk yarn)

this is the silk, with traces

All fibers were mordanted with alum. As you can see, the color is not very obvious, not very pronounced. I am getting used to it, and as I wrote on Flickr, I think it helps me appreciating the neutral tones, natural colors that natures provides. Of course some natural plants, trees or flowers can give colorful hues (like indigo for instance) but the majority of plants or leaves will give faded yellows, greens, kakhis or beiges/browns.
On the last photo, you can see that there were traces of a darker tone. These traces have given me great signs of hope for another dye with that plant, in the future, and this time, I think I'll pick fresher, greener cones, and I'll report the results, of course.
I have another dye in the making, it had been way too long since I had been able to dye, it is always thrilling & always teaching me something new. About dyeing, or not. (I talk about wisdom, girls)

a r b u t u s * u n e d o

2009-12-29T23:18:00.002+01:00

Ah, at long last a new dye ... after of course the results of the solar dye with ginkgo ! :) I've been dieing to dye (OK, pun intended !) for weeks, but December had gotten way too busy & crazy, even in the good sense of it.
As you can see in the title of the post, I've been dyeing this past weekend with ...

A R B U T U S * U N E D O

A little info ...
The Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo) is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the heather family, Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe north to western France and Ireland. Despite its name, the strawberry tree does not produce strawberries !
The leaves are dark green and glossy. The hermaphrodite flowers are white, bell-shaped. They are pollinated by bees. The fruit is a red aggregate drupe, sometimes called arbutus-berry, with a rough surface, maturing 12 months at the same time as the next flowering. The fruit is edible, though many people find it bland and mealy; the name 'unedo' is explained by Pliny the Elder as being derived from unum edo "I eat one", which may seem an apt response to the flavour. They mainly serve as food for birds but in some countries (mainly Spain, Morocco & Algeria) they are used to make jam and liqueurs. It contains lot of vitamin C. The tree can resist to dry summers & can survive until -15°C.
The tree produces masses of beautiful white flowers in November and December. Since the fruit takes 12 months to ripen, the tree carries both mature fruit and flowers at the same time and is then incredibly beautiful.
This is a very good tree to grow in towns because it tolerates industrial pollution.

I decided to use the leaves to dye. I mordanted with alum two pieces of fabrics : a piece of white linen & a piece (scarf sized) of silk. I also added silk yarn, like everytime I do these experiements.

Like with most tree leaves, I obtained a (light) yellow, which I am very happy about. :)

To close this end of 2009, the year I started dyeing with plants, I would love to thank from the bottom of my heart : Margie, Cathy, Eva & Carolyn (and Lisa too, but I forgot to include a photo of you dyes in the mosaic, I am so sorry), for giving me the inspiration & motivation to start my own experiments. Of course I also thank my husband very warmly as he's on my side at all time, and enjoy the dyeing process & result as much as me. How lucky am I ?

See you all in 2010 ... and wishing you lots of happy dyeing with plants experiments !

Solar dyeing // Ginkgo Biloba : Results

2009-12-28T16:55:00.001+01:00

There we are, three weeks after I bottled the yellow leaves of ginkgo biloba with three pieces of unmordanted fabrics. (one linen & two silks - see previous post for more details) It stayed on the bathroom radiator the whole time. I wasn't really prepared to ... er, the smell of a vegetal fermentation ! LOL Well, it stroke me instantly as I opened the jar, but when I let a little laugh out, my boys & hubby went to check what was up & ran in the opposite direction the second after, ahahah. Anyway, that was the funny little anecdote about it. I think we're all warned now !

I had rolled the long piece of unmordanted linen with leaves & had tied it. I had rolled a long (scarf sized) piece of unmordanted silk with leaves & had tied it too. And had left a loose piece of unmordanted (sacrf sized too) silk in the jar, swimming in the middle of ginkgo leaves & water.

Conclusion is ... The loose piece of silk didn't get dyed much at all. But the two other pieces of fabrics that had been rolled show much more spots of yellow. An easy conclusion for me to roll & tie the next experiments, with the dyeing parts.

Here's a photo, which I have decided to load directly from Flickr (so you can click it & you'll get to the bigger version on Flickr)

In addition to finishing this solar dye yesterday, I have made another dye ... which will be in the next post ... maybe tonight.
Thanks for visiting ! Happy Holidays ! xoxo

Solar dyeing // Ginkgo Biloba

2009-12-06T22:53:00.001+01:00

Hi :) It's been quite a while, uh ? Life's been so busy, and still is (little one with swine flu & throat infection, his big brother coming down with something too, hubby very busy but still healthy)

Very inspired by Eva's & Cathy's solar dyeings, I decided to give it a go myself, and I thought about using the yellow leaves of ginkgo bilobas, while there were still. So I went to the botanical garden last Friday afternoon, and the same evening, started my very first jar of solar dye. I used three things to dye : one loose piece of unmordanted silk, another piece of unmordanted silk (but different) rolled with leaves and then tied with silk yarn, and a more narrow piece of white, unmordanted linen, rolled with leaves & tied with silk yarn too.

I don't know exactly how long I shall leave it on the radiator (no room here with full sun & warmth), but a good couple of weeks, I suppose. If you're familiar with solar dyeing, your advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

I will share the results, of course, as soon as I think they will be ready.

About my experiments

2009-11-23T15:52:00.002+01:00

No new experiment today ... but just a little explanations about my dyeing experiments, because I felt I needed to expose you my personal point of view.

I love Nature, there's no doubt about it. In my everyday life, I try to be as earth friendly as can be.

My hubby, our two sons & I, live in the heart of a 250.000 inhab. town, in the south of France. We rent an appartment that has no garage, no garden, no balcony, no attic.
We don't own a car (where would we park it anyway ?!) and walk to the boys' schools (four times a day, thanks), walk to shop for food, and hubby walks to work (tribunal) when he has to go there. (he works mainly from home)
We don't own a freezer, nor a drier. We don't watch TV, and our boys only watch DVDs we bought for/with them.
We eat almost exclusively organic food, and have started to grown our own sprouted seeds at home, and soon will bake our bread too.

OK, this was a bit of a background, which was maybe unnecessary, but if you didn't know me before, well maybe this was useful.

I have seen several friends & ladies on Flickr/on their own blogs, sharing their personal experience with dyeing with plants, and the need to dip my own toes slowly but surely grew. I finally got started, with the help of my hubby, earlier this month. And all I can say is that it is addictive, more particularly because it's part art, part chemistry, part nature, part surprise ... how not to love dyeing with plants ?!

But, I don't want to experiment all plants that are known for dyeing. I mean, when I looked on Google about dyeing with ginkgo leaves, I had no result at all. How was that possible, specially with the result they gave ?!

In fact, what I really mean, is that for all my dyeing experiments, I will use plants that I can find very locally, that grow during the season we're in, and as much as it is possible, I will try to use materials that are in big or huge quantity. (like the fallen yellow ginkgo leaves ...) May it be leaves, berries, fruits ...

I'm slowly but surely documenting & reflecting about what I can find here, and during which season, and I am already eager to try several plants, but I'm not going to spoil the surprises until I manage to find them, collect them & dye with them.

And one last thing ... I am against using animals for dyeing, so NO galls for me (they're insects anyway) ... no cochineal ... for instance. I can't bear the idea of boiling animals, even insects, to death.

I hope that you have a clearer idea about my very own experiments now.

p h y t o l a c c a * a m e r i c a n a

2009-11-17T15:10:00.003+01:00

Ok, so today I'm reporting a kind of unsuccessful experiment. I knew it had to happen, but this won't discourage me, and I'd rather say the contrary ! I'm a bit busy at the moment, but I'll try to dye with something new as soon as it will be possible. :)
I tried a new process (macerating the fruits for a couple of days) but I don't think it helped, and I think it wasn't the appropriate way to get these fruits tinctorial power. But, anyway. I had fun, hubby too ... even though we were hoping for a slightly darker color. (at least)

So ... this time we used

P h y t o l a c c a * a m e r i c a n a

... also known as American Pokeweed, American nightshade, cancer jalap, coakum, garget, inkberry, pigeon berry, pocan bush, poke root, pokeweed, redweed, scoke, red ink plant. With such names, I think I had too high expectations ! LOL

OK let's move onto the photography fun ! :)

Really, don't they have gorgeous shape & colors ?!

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Macerating the fruits in water & a dash of vinegar, for a couple of days

Mordating with alum

In the dye

Barely visible results

Comparison with undyed silk yarn

Comparison with undyed silk bourette (silk waste) (undyed on the right)

Comparison with undyed linen (undyed on the right)

What did I learn from this experiment ?
Not to have too high expectations, not to be discouraged and to experiment some more, ah ! :)

v i b u r n u m * t i n u s

2009-11-12T16:15:00.000+01:00

First of all, thank you so much for your warm welcome and for such an enthusiasm ! I was very pleased with the results given with Ginkgo biloba, but don't know yet what I will use the fabrics & silk yarn for.

This time I tried dyeing with the fruits of a shrub growing in our Mediterranean region, which makes white flowers in early spring, and then metallic (sincerely, it was really very pretty & I could have looked at them for hours) dark blue drupes in the autumn. You may know it by the name of laurestine.

v i b u r n u m * t i n u s

Isn't that shrub really beautiful ?

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Having fun with the drupes ...

Mordating with alum

Preparing the dye with the fruits

The dye itself (well a bit of it to show you the color !)

Fabrics & fibers in the dye

The result

As you can see, the colors are not the same on the linen (far left) and on the silk bourette & silk yarn. The linen got kind of light taupe, and the silks turned into a lovely green hue ... um, kind of light grey-olive green. (if you have a better name, please share !!)

As I've been on a roll this week, I'll make another dye tomorrow (with the helping hand of my hubby) & I'll share the result this weekend, as we shall stay at home.

g i n k g o * b i l o b a

2009-11-10T11:20:00.002+01:00

Welcome everyone to this new little space of mine "Naturally Dyeing" !

This is a place where I'll gather the records of my little experiments with dyeing with plants. My goal is to gather what Nature kidnly allows me to pick, like leaves or berries.

This is what I wanted to dye : a square of silk bourette (silk waste), a length of white linen, and a bit of silk yarn.

My very first experiment is dyeing with yellow leaves of

G i n k g o * B i l o b a

Gathering

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Mordanting (with alum)

Preparing the dye

The dye itself

Dyeing

The result

I must say I'm pretty happy with the result, even though the silk yarn doesn't look as "silky" as before the dye. I will share later what I will use these bits of ginkgo dyed fabrics for.

Thank you for following this with me. You can expect another post quite soon as I'm currently dyeing with something else as I'm typing. :)

And last but not least, I want to thank my sweet hubby for his help and big support. I would have not done all this without him.