hemtohem

30th July 2018

Plants are green. It might seem obvious that there would be an abundance of natural green dyes to be had from plants. So why was it so difficult to find a green I was happy with?

The first plant I tried was comfrey...

which gave a lovely pale green from its vibrant leaves. 

The second was nettle - locally foraged - which again, gave a soft, subtle hue from its deep green leaves.

But what I was after was something more robust, dark and rich. Clearly the colour of the leaf had nothing to do with the colour of the dye I was extracting!

So I went back to basics and used the colour wheel. I needed a blue and a yellow to blend together to get the depth of colour I needed. The problem I had was I didn't have a blue to play with. I decided to try logwood and turmeric and hoped for a good outcome.

Next came the question of whether to mix the two dyes together then dip the fabric, or dye with turmeric and then over-dye with logwood. Experienced dyers reading this will know the best method but hey, I'm new to this! I went with over-dyeing some turmeric dyed Cambridge cotton and hoped for the best.

I’m VERY happy to say the results were just what I wanted! I’m not ashamed to say I showed the results to everyone who happened to be passing through the studio!

I’m learning such a lot doing natural dyeing. I like being inexperienced because I haven’t learnt any rules (are there any?) which might hold me back from having a go with any plant or mixture. Some batches of dye are going to be disappointing initially, in that they are not what I had envisaged or hoped for. However, a different hue has been produced which I can use for something else. Knowledge is never wasted.