Natural Dye Adventures Part 1 - Pink, Purple, Yellow
26th June 2018
If you’ve been following me on Instagram you’ll know I’ve spent a lot of time with my hands in the dye vats in recent weeks. I’ve been using plant-derived dyes to dye organic fabric samples, trying to achieve the colours I want for my MA Degree Show collection. Building work at my uni means I don’t have access to the dye vats over summer, so it’s been a bit of a race to get it all done. I’m such a newbie to natural dyeing so every batch has filled me with excitement, awe and delight!
Here’s a round-up of my Adventures Part 1 (pinks, purples and yellows).
It began when I explored The Organic Textile Company’s website. Such a wide choice of organic, ethically produced, Fair Trade fabrics! I chose white, but there are lots of colours to choose from. They have a lovely website and a quirky Instagram and are very helpful with FAST delivery. And no, they are not paying me to say this!
I’ve read several books in preparation but this is the one I’ve found most useful.
Dye vats at the ready...
…first off was mordanting the fabrics. Because I’m using 100% cotton fabrics I used a mordant of alum and washing soda. From what I’ve read, this seems to be the most innocuous in terms of toxicity.
Originally I wanted to extract all the colours I needed from plants that I had grown myself or had foraged but I soon realised this doesn’t sit well in my timescale. Consequently, I bought logwood and madder extracts from dyeing-crafts.co.uk. Again, I’m not paid to advertise them, but I do recommend them for a good website and speedy service.
The logwood gave me some beautiful shades of purple, from almost black aubergine to lavender. This is ‘Cambridge' cotton which is a robust canvas with a lovely texture.
Next came the madder which gave me various shades of rose and salmon pinks. I was expecting red! I’m going to try modifying with an iron modifier. I’ll let you know how it goes!
In the meantime, the pinks are very beautiful!
I’ve used marigolds which I’ve grown myself for past experiment to gain yellows, but it was a bit early in the season so I used turmeric. WOW!
The first samples gave a lovely daffodil yellow, the second a zesty orange and mixed with madder gave up further shades of vibrant oranges. Wow, bring on the sunshine!
A lot of my photos appear fuzzy but it’s due to the steam from the vats rather than camera shake. That’s my excuse.
I can see how dyeing with natural dyes can become addictive. It’s SO exciting! The outcome can never be predicted with total accuracy and that’s what I like about it. There have been lots of whoops as I’ve fished bits of fabric from the vats whilst sampling. Especially when seeking greens. But more of that in Part 2.
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MMMay18 - The Whole Thing & Ethical Dilemmas
1st June 2018
So how did you with Me Made May this year? Did you fulfill your pledge?
I pledged to wear something I’d made four times each week, to shop my stash and to make PLANNED makes, not on a whim.
Here’s what I wore...
Lark Tee (leftover fabric from a dress)
Self-drafted (vintage Uniqlo T-shirt married with cast-off DH’s shirt)
Simplicity 2189 (Stretch cotton/elastane jersey, bought new)
McCall’s 2049 (printed cotton, bought new)
I’ve included this H&M t-shirt as, although I didn’t make it, I did dye it.
Originally it was white.
Self-drafted (fabric shop remnant)
Self-drafted (new William Morris cotton in two colourways)
Hacked New Look 6896 (printed viscose, bought new, never again, frayed like billy-o!)
Self-drafted (fabric shop remnant)
Top: self-drafted (fabric shop remnant)
Culottes: Wendy Ward Roehampton Culottes (pleated jersey, bought new)
This last photo is a somewhat strange pose of me trying to show off culottes!
New Look K8184 (digital printed scuba, bought new)
Some garments were worn several times. Some were things I put on a little reluctantly, as I’d fallen out with them, then got lots of compliments, so they’re now back in my good books again. The weather has been SO hot! Some things I’d planned to wear didn’t get a look in because I’d have melted!
MMMay18 has really made me think about what I wear, what I think suits me (and what actually looks good), and what I need to make to fill gaps in my wardrobe. It’s also made me look at my wardrobe (again) and decide what I can let go. Also, these garments look a bit random! My wardrobe is actually predominantly blue but you wouldn’t know that from these photos. That’s because I’ve tended to make things on a whim. It has to stop!
My MA creative practice has been all about sustainability and I realise I have a lot of fabrics in my wardrobe which do not sit easily under that umbrella. My ideal is that, from here on, my new garments are all plant-based, organic, and ethically produced. The reality is that a proportion of the fabric I already have in my stash and in my wardrobe is synthetic, not organic and is ephemeral fashion bought years ago and its production might be questionable. I think I have to move forwards from the place I’m currently occupying. So I will use my stash (even though there’s some silk in there) and wear my wardrobe (even though I have some things made from polyester) and not beat myself up over it. What's the alternative? I can’t give away my stash as that would just pass on the problem to someone else. I can’t throw it away because that’s wasteful and polluting. Does anyone else have this dilemma?
Thank you to Zoe for a very though-provoking Me Made May! If you’re new to MMMay see the original post here: http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com/p/about-me-made-may.html