Dyeing with Plants

Plant-dyeing is easy and rewarding. It is a wonderful project for families, classes and groups of children and adults. We always say that plant dyeing is a bit of science and a bit of art -- and, always just a bit of a mystery! Part of the fun is seeing what kinds of colors will emerge each time.

Colors will vary, depending on the quality of the water, the freshness of the plants, the plant source, the weather, and more. Overdyeing is also rewarding -- dye with one color, then dip into another color to create a third color. Will yellow from onion skins and then a dip in the pink Brazilwood make orange? Hmmm....

Plant dyeing may be done indoors, but is usually easier to do in groups outside . Have space for a table with cook stoves and pots, a space for bins of water with mordant, a hose for rinsing, and a spot to hang dyeables safely for drying.

Jennifer recently had the pleasure of leading a workshop at the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education's annual conference at Steiner College in Fair Oaks, CA. We dyed yards of silk gauze with onion skins, Brazilwood, logwood, cochineal (which are bugs that live on plants!), and copper. Beautiful!

To learn more, we highly recommend Griffin Dyework's eBook on dyeing, available in our Etsy shop. If possible come to one of Griffin Dyework's Fiber Frolics or the annual Dye and Fiber Retreat in Southern California! This year, the retreat is June 14-17.

Natural Dyeing with Indigo

We love to do natural dyeing at home, but there are some dyes we only use when we are at the Griffin Dyeworks Dye & Fiber Retreat. Indigo is definitely one of those unique, natural dyes that is best done with masterful dyers around!

Dyeing with indigo is unique -- you can see in these pictures how Ricky is dyeing his handspun yarn. First, he dips the yarn into the blue dye pot, then he pulls it out right away. The yarn looks green! Oxidation occurs. Eventually, the yarn turns blue. If he wants it darker, he can dip it again.


We dyed our own handspun wool yarns, some silk ribbon and a few silk scarves with indigo dye this past week while at the retreat. Some were redipped for a darker color, while others were first dyed with other plants, and then overdyed with indigo. Here are some of our creations:


1. Brazilwood, then Indigo = lavender, purple, indigo colors

2. Broom, then Indigo = blue-green, lime green colors

3. Onion Skins, then Indigo = med.-deep green colors

4. Broom, then Indigo, then in the Brazilwood rinse water = aqua color

Mommy had fun using the rinse waters to change the tones a bit and ended up with some light, fairy colors! Can't wait to make the yarns into a family project. The silks will be used in our nature table and around the Dell for homelearning activities and play.

Natural Dyeing

We learned to dye fibers naturally with plants a few years ago at the Griffin Dyeworks Dye & Fiber Retreat in Castaic, CA. What fun! Camping, pots of steaming dyes, people spinning and weaving, crocheting and knitting...kumihimo, lucet, Viking whipcord braiding, felting...fiber arts and fun! We definitely will be going to the retreat again this year (it's in May).

Natural dyeing is a wonderful way to use what nature provides while creating a rainbow of beautiful colors! We have dyed yarns, fiber and fabric with indigo, brazilwood, kamala, onion skins, berries, walnut shells, lichens, and more. During the 2007 retreat, we dyed a variety of our handspun and other wool yarns with natural dyes, brought them home, and then wove the yarns as a family into a beautiful table runner.

At home, we dye simply with herbs, plants, fruits and roots. This week, we dyed silk play scarves, silk ribbon, silk cord and wool yarn with tumeric (vibrant yellow), brazilwood (orange), and blueberries (blue/indigo). The brazilwood batch was initially red, and then we added a bit of vinegar to set the color and the batch turned a lovely light orange! Sometimes the color surprises that occur are the most fun. The blueberries dyed very well this time. What a treat! We've decided to share some of our dyed objects in our Syrendell Etsy shop. The rest are either serving as capes or forts or decorations around the house.