As the semester winds down, I wanted to show a few samples from the eight natural dye notebooks. As this class was not a studio class, we approached the topic of natural dyes as a series of collaborative tests and resulting swatch swaps. Everyone kept logs of each recipe and technique so they can replicate the luscious colors.

We tried extracts of “exotic” dyes -such as madder, cochineal, brazilwood, logwood, quebracho; these dyes were the backbone of the 16th century global trade as European dyers tried to figure out the secrets of South Asian dyeing expertise. We tried some of these in our Star Store roof top experiments and found that even in a cloudy, rainy April, there was adequate sun and heat to get excellent color after only a week. Moving on to various recipes for mordanting cotton as well as post-dye modifiers such as iron and vinegar, the group then tried more “kitchen variety” or familiar dyes – red cabbage, onion skins, avocado pits, turmeric, and with the help of a Californian sister, eucalyptus bark. Printing with mordant and mordant plus dye pastes was very successful – revealing the secret to centuries of imported Indian washfast cottons.

Our class is currently experimenting with various methods of natural dyeing. Using natural extracts from tree barks, bugs, and different plants all over the world, we started dyeing with a stove, pot and water. The students properly prepped, mordanted (the metallic salts of aluminum that help the dyes to “bite” the fiber) and soaked wool yarn and silk fabric. Taking our focus on sustainability a little further, we were redirected to solar dyeing by our professor; as most natural dyes require an hour or more of simmering, using the sun produces good results without the BTUs and fossil fuels; the process just takes a bit longer. It’s similar to the method we dyed on the stove, but instead we use the sun’s rays to heat our dye vats. The students were each given a gallon sized mason jar, wool yarn, and silk fabric to dye in the natural extract they wanted. After prepping their mason jars to dye, everyone was taken to the roof of the building. Though roof access is normally restricted, but special permission was given to this class! All eight jars of dye are currently on our roof for the next month soaking in the heat New England has to offer this Spring. Are you anticipating seeing the results as much as we are?

Here we go! This is the first boiling of eucalyptus bark, sent to the class by Katy, a blog subscriber in California. The pieces were broken up into 2-3″ shards and then boiled twice to get this deep rich brown color. We’ll be using it to dye next week – first we’re going up on the Star Store roof for some solar gain dyeing…check in tomorrow!