Pop-Up – Dyeing Fabric Using Nature’s Bounty (Zoom-Saturday)

DYEING FABRICS USING NATURE’S BOUNTY

Dyeing fabrics from natural resources is an ancient practice.Recipes for extracting color from plant materials was once proprietary, handed down from generation to generation and kept under lock and key. Now, with the the advent of the internet, recipes for dyeing fabric and yarn are shared by textile artists around the world. Follow me as I take you on my journey foraging in fields, the grocery store and my own kitchen, to dye thrifted fabrics that I enjoy using in my quilts and embroidery.

If you wish to follow along as I prepare a Solar Dye Jar, please gather the following materials:

• Glass Jar – about 24 oz. (I prefer a canning jar)
• Tea kettle for boiling water
• Chopstick, or similar, for stirring.
• Fabric:  cotton, linen or silk fabric, white, about 10” square and “scoured”. I prefer to recycle household fabrics. Think napkins, pillow cases, sheets, tablecloths or muslin. The fabric must be washed in hot water and detergent for a long cycle to get rid of chemicals and body oils – “scouring”
• Don’t forget pieces of lace and thread.

The following plant materials can be used without a mordant. (I’ll be covering mordants in the workshop)
A cup or more of –
Avocado skins and pits, onion skins – red or yellow, acorns, black walnuts, pomegranate skins, rhubarb leaves, turmeric and black tea.

I hope you can join me Saturday, September 30, 11:00 – 12:30. Via Zoom. 

Best, Meg Mooar