Dye Magic

Hello,

We could think that dyeing it’s all about colours. Colour is the arrival/result. Dyeing is a journey made of expectations, doubts, discoveries, surprises, joy and happiness. But Whatever the colour I obtain I will make something of it.

The past months I tried another mordant, the alum. The mordant, like the fibre has consequences on how the pigment will bond with the material. Also, depending which time of the year you harvest the plant, it will give a different shade. So there is many factors and a lot of combinations to considerate when you dye. Then, accept that by using the very same recipe and respecting the method twice, you won’t have exactly the same shade, every bath is unique.

Lately, I tried 2 new plants that are growing very well here On the isle of Lewis : blackberries and marigold. When you used a bath once, you can reuse it for a second batch that will give a lighter colour. Finally when your fabric is dry you can change the colour by applying iron soup.

Fabrics dyed with Marigold petals and treated then with iron soup ( green colours) :

different fabrics dyed with blackberries and treated with iron soup (dark grey colours) : 

Since these tests on wool and fabrics, I dyed ropes and something else I will let you discover in a new post, soon. 

Take Care, 

Mathilde