Growing Plants for Fabric Dyes
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D id you know that you can grow a rainbow in your garden that will extend far beyond the 5lowers, vegetables and fruits that you harvest? You can color your world with beautiful hues obtained from dyes made from the blossoms, leaves, and roots of many plants you can grow in your home garden. Many people 5ind the colors obtained from plants to be more aesthetically pleasing than most synthetic dyes. One possible reason for this is that 1 Growing Plants for Fabric Dyes Natural dyes are part of an ancient craft that gardeners can perfect if they are patient. by Rebecca Brown, for Yakima Valley Master Gardeners Sally Fitch, Yakima, wears a coat created from Chilean wools, which she wove herself. The art piece she is holding depicts Hmong artists preparing indigo dyes, a centuries- old process that can take a full month to achieve the depth of blue/black color desired. Sally has traveled much of the world to witness the authentic dying and weaving processes in different cultures. JIM BLACK PHOTO
Transcript of Growing Plants for Fabric Dyes
Didyouknowthatyoucangrowarainbowinyourgardenthatwillextendfarbeyondthe5lowers,vegetablesandfruitsthatyouharvest?
Youcancoloryourworldwithbeautifulhuesobtainedfromdyesmadefromtheblossoms,leaves,androotsofmanyplantsyoucangrowinyourhomegarden.Manypeople5indthecolorsobtainedfromplantstobemoreaestheticallypleasingthanmostsyntheticdyes.Onepossiblereasonforthisisthat
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Growing Plants for Fabric Dyes Natural dyes are part of an ancient craft that gardeners can perfect if they are patient.
by Rebecca Brown, for Yakima Valley Master Gardeners
Sally Fitch, Yakima, wears a coat created from Chilean wools, which she wove herself. The art piece she is holding depicts Hmong artists preparing indigo dyes, a centuries-old process that can take a full month to achieve the depth of blue/black color desired. Sally has traveled much of the world to witness the authentic dying and weaving processes in different cultures. JIM BLACK PHOTO
naturalplant-baseddyecolorseachcontainseveraldifferentcolormoleculesasopposedtothesingularcolormoleculesofmanysyntheticdyes.Thisgivesacolorthatiseasyontheeye,moreeasilymixedwithothercolors,andrefreshinglydifferent.
Inaddition,thepaletteofnaturalcolorsisoftenmoredesirablethanthegarishsingle-mindedpalettehandedtousbyMadisonAvenue,regardlessofwhatMirandaPriestleymightopineinthemovie,TheDevilWearsPrada!
Thebestthingaboutnaturaldyes,however,isthatyoucangrowthemyourself.Whetheryourgardenisapatiowithcontainersforplants,ortwoacrestospreadout,youcanraiseplantsthatwillproducegorgeouscolorforallofyourtextileprojects.
Whendyeingatextile,asubstancemustbeusedasamordant,tobindthedyecolormoleculestothetextilemolecules.Manydifferentmordantsareused,includingsalt,vinegar,alum,iron,tin,andchrome.
Becausenaturaldyecolorscanbevariedbythetypeofmordantsusedto‘5ix’thedyestothetextile,manydifferentcolorscanbeproducedfromoneplant.Therefore,itisagoodideatobeginbygrowingthethreeprimarycolors:Red,Yellow,andBlue.
ThebestRedcolorisusuallyobtainedfromtherootsoftheMadderplant(Rubiatinctorum).AlthoughthisplantisonlyhardythroughZone7,inourarea,itcanbebroughtinsideduringthewinterorotherwiseprotectedfromthecold.UsingAlumasamordantwillproduceaclearred.OthersourcesforreddyeincludetherootsofLady’sBedstraw(Galliumverum)orDyer’swoodruff(Asperulatinctoria).
ThereareanumberofgoodcandidatesforproducingYellowdyes.Inourarea,someofthebestandeasiesttogroware:RomanChamomile(Chamaemelumnobile)whereyouwouldusethe5lowers,Weld(Resedaluteola)usingleavesandstemseitherfreshordriedandthe5lowersofYarrow(Achilleamillefolium).Marigolds(Tagetespetula)andCorreopsis5lowersalsowillproduceyellowdyes.
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For information on the Yakima County Master Gardeners Program:https://extension.wsu.edu/yakima/home-garden/master-gardeners/
Theyareeasytogrowinthisareaaswell.TherootoftheTurmericplant(Curcumalonga),whichiseasytogrowbutneedswinterprotectionasitisbasicallyatropicalplant,makesanintenseyellowtoorangedye.
TraditionallyBlueisobtainedfromtheWoadplant(Isatistinctoria)usingfreshleaves.ThisisthedyeoftheancientCelts;however,despiteitsromantichistory,ithasaveryinvasivenature,andWashingtonStatehaslisteditasaclassAnoxiousweed.Don’tbetemptedtoplantitinyourgarden.
Initsplace,indigo(Indigferatinctoria)leaveshavealsobeenusedforthousandsofyears.Indigo-dyedfabricshavebeenfoundonEgyptianmummiesstillretainingtheirbluecolor.IndigoactuallyhasmoreofthebluepigmentthanWoadbutisalittlefussiertogrowasitprefersatropicalclimate.Youcanstillgrowitsuccessfullyinagreenhouse,orbybringingitinsidewhenitstartstogetcoldinlatefall.
Thereisnoreasontohaveaseparate5lowerbedforyourdyeplants;theycanbemixedinwithother5lowers,herbsorevenvegetables.Themainthingistoconsiderthetypeofgrowingspaceandconditionyourdyeplantslikeandplantthemaccordingly.Onceyouhavechosentheplantsyouwouldliketobeginwith,doublethenumberofplantsyouthinkyouwillneed.Youwill5indthatnaturaldyesneedalotmorematerialtoproduceenoughcolorforyourprojectsthanyoumightthink.Ahintwouldbetostartwithdyesmadefromblossomsasyouwillgenerallyhavealotmoretoworkwithinyour5irstyear.Ifyouaregoingforroot-baseddyes,youmighthavetowaitaseasonortwotogetenoughmaterialforyourdyebathunlessyouareabletobuylarge,liveplantstostart.
Althoughitismoreworktoproducethesebeautifulnaturaldyes,theresultswillbewellworththeeffort.Tofollowthepathoftextileartiststhathavebeenusingthemforthousandsofyearsisatremendousfeelingandthefactthat,forthemostpart,thesedyesaremuchsaferforpeopleandforthe
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environmentthansyntheticonesisicingonthecake!Itshouldbenotedthatevenintheplantworldthereareplantsthatarepoisonousordangeroustohumansandsomemordantscanbecausticordangerousaswell.Agoodruleofthumbasinallendeavors,istoalwaysknowyouringredients.
Thereisagloriousrainbowwaitingforyouinyour5lowerbedsorpots.Whatcanyoucreatewithallthoseincrediblecolors?
Foradditionalinformationonnaturaldyes,refertothefollowinglinks:
https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2073/2014/03/052110.pdf
https://www.fs.fed.us/wild5lowers/ethnobotany/dyes.shtml
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