Did you enjoy the natural dye demo with KC at the Etsy Craft Party? Or did you miss and want to try out the fun at home for yourself? Here's her tips on the dyeing process.
Food Based Natural Dyes – Demo at Etsy Craft Party 2013
Turmeric – Yields a vibrate yellow. (Ranging from sunshine to pure gold in nature)
Recipe and Instructions:
For every 3 cups of water use ¼ cup of turmeric.
For large batches, It is safe to assume that no more than ¾ of a cup is needed for a bold color. For the Etsy Party demonstration I used the largest capacity crock pot available (which is just over 24 cups) and used ¾ of a cup of turmeric. If you would like a subtle yellow, try a lesser amount of turmeric like 2 tablespoons to 8 cup ratio.
If using a hot pot, put in the ingredients in the crock pot and set it to cook on high for 2-3 hours before dyeing your fabric. If you are doing this on the stove, try to have a rolling boil for 20-30min. then simmer for around an hour before adding fabric. Stir the liquid frequently as the turmeric cooks. Because when you add your item to dye into the dye bath, the turmeric is very potent and will stain if it splashes back on you. For dyeing in the crockpot keep your item in the liquid still on high heat for at least 30 minutes. Most results will be reviled well before 2 hours with this method. Don’t overcook! If you are cooking on the stove make sure your temperature is turned down to a simmer and that you are stirring often. This color is very colorfast and doesn’t need any additional fixatives.
Coffee (Espresso) – Yields a range of deep brown.
Recipe and Instructions:
For every 5 cups of water use ¼ cup of ground espresso.
For large batches - no more than ¾ of a cup is needed for a bold color. For the Etsy Party demonstration I used a smaller capacity crock pot (probably around 13 cups) and used ¾ of a cup of espresso. If you would like a wash of brown so it just looks aged, try a lesser amount of turmeric like 1 tablespoons to 8 cup ratio.
If using a hot pot, put in the ingredients in the crock pot and set it to cook on high for 2-3 hours before dyeing your fabric. If you are doing this on the stove, try to have a rolling boil for 20-30min. then simmer for around an hour before adding fabric. Stir the liquid frequently as the coffee cooks. Be careful when you add your item to dye into the dye bath, we don’t want it to splash back on you! For dyeing in the crockpot keep your item in the liquid still on high heat for at least 30 minutes. Most results will be reviled well before 2 hours with this method. Don’t overcook! If you are cooking on the stove make sure your temperature is turned down to a simmer and that you are stirring often. This color is very colorfast and doesn’t need any additional fixatives.
Onion Skins - A wonderful way to create a yellow to brown range.
This process really reacts to the metals in clamps and washers. The longer you cook the fabric in the onion broth or let it sit overnight the variations attained due to metal will come out with high contrast.
A note on Foraging for Onion Skins at the Grocery store:
Whenever you are at your local grocery store, Look for the loose union skins in any of the varieties and keep the skins collected all mixed up to use as a wonderful dye
You can use cheese cloth to bundle the onion skins all together to create the dye. I have found that the produce bags you can purchase that are white mesh works really good as a reusable net bag to hold the skins while cooking.
Red Onion and Mixed Onion Skins:
You can scavenge the red onion skins at your local grocery store…
Recipe and Instructions:
More in-depth instructions for Onion Dyeing can be found on the Make. Shop. Live. Blog. Since onion skins are hard to get a precise measurement, there are pictures and breakdowns of the process.
Here- http://makeshoplive.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-dying-with-onion-skins.html#more
Some helpful items to look into if you’d like to dye more:
Dharma Trading Co. is the best place to order fabrics, pre-made items to dye, dye supplies, and all kinds of textile craft supplies! If you haven’t ordered anything with them you will be hooked in no time! http://www.dharmatrading.com/
Synthrapol is a special soap that is good for cleaning and processing fabric. http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/2127-AA.shtml
One of my favorite books to use as a reference for natural dyeing is Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes by Rebecca Burgess. http://www.amazon.com/Harvesting-Color-Find-Plants-Natural/dp/1579654258/ref=wl_mb_hu_m_2_dp
