If you have ever asked yourself how to dye yarn with coffee and which colorways you can create with it, this post is for you. Coffee is another great dyestuff for beginners. It is readily available and a form of kitchen waste, if you collect and use spent coffee grounds. I have already talked about …
Natural dyeing with onion skins is a great way to get started with natural dyeing. Onion skins are readily available and a form of kitchen waste which makes their use as a natural color source very sustainable. At the beginning of the year I wrote a blog post about natural dyeing for beginners in which …
Today I want to share my newest soap creation with you, the cold process goldenrod & honey soap. We have been using cold process soap in lieu of liquid soap and shower gel for over ten years now. But it wasn’t until last year that I started making the soap myself instead of purchasing it. …
In today’s blog post I want to talk about solar dyeing yarn with natural dyes. But what is solar dyeing, actually? It is a special technique which utilizes the natural heat created by the sun to slowly dye fiber. You can use it to dye yarn or fabric. You can apply natural or synthetic dyes. …
Today I want to share my experience on natural dyeing with amaranth with you. I grew the amaranth ‘Hopi red dye’ variety from seed for the first time this year. And I am absolutely delighted with the color potential of this dyestuff. Last year I ordered some seeds of a couple of dye plants. Amaranth …
This post is all about the differences and commonalities between natural dyes vs. synthetic acid dyes. But first, let’s start with a general definition: What is a Dye? A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to a substrate. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. …
Today I want to take you along on an experiment of natural dyeing with cochineal. Overall, cochineal is one of my favorite dyestuffs to use due to its versatility and straightforwardness. And it creates the most vibrant shades of pinks. Origin & Applications Cochineal is the only dyestuff I use for natural dyeing that is …
Natural Dyeing with Avocado is one of the easiest ways to start experimenting with botanical dyes. You can use both the pits (stones) and skins which would otherwise be discarded after consuming the avocado. Today I want to show you the different color results when using pits vs. skins. We will also have a look …
A Natural Dyer’s Home & Garden Series Part 4 Welcome to part 4 of this series where I talk about different kinds of plant materials that are suitable for natural dyeing. Today will be about 7 plant materials from the woods you can use for natural dyeing. If you are new to natural dyeing, you …
A Natural Dyer’s Home & Garden Series Part 3 This series is about different kinds of plant materials that are suitable for natural dyeing. Today will be about 5 weeds & wildflowers you can use for natural dyeing.If you haven’t read the first two posts of the series yet, you can click here for the …
