Mangosteen dye on cotton

I am so happy with the result on these 2 cotton shirts, dyed with mangosteen skins by fermentation. The colour is so much darker than I have ever achieved with the immersion method by boiling.

 

Fermentation dyeing results

I have been doing some fermentation dyeing, using the technique of Anne Rieger. I love her technique and the results are worth the time waiting for the fermentation to happen.

In the image above, the left side shows the results of mango leaves and right of yellow onion skins. The top was only in an acid bath and going more to the bottom each time a bit longer in the alkaline bath. I get a completely different result with the mango leaves than when I use immersion dyeing. Maybe, I haven't let them ferment long enough. I need to do some more experiments with them. Although, I love the browns that I got.

Why I love this technique so much:
- I find it the most environmentally friendly and purest way of natural dyeing that I have come accross sofar.
- There are absolutely no mordants used
- No need for an external energy source other than the warmth of the sun to warm up the baths. - There is also very little water needed
- the colour holds well and nearly no dye runs when rinsing.
- The dye plants can dye for a long time as the fermentation keeps going
- I like to help in keeping a very old tradition alive

Why I don't always use this:
- sometimes materials need to be dyed fast and I can't wait for months to have them. That is when I go back to immersion dyeing
- I sometimes still use dye stuffs coming from other places, in extracts or powders. I find that the fermentation works best with whole plants and the most sustainable is to use local plants, fresh from the garden.
- It is very time consuming as the dye baths need to be checked every day for pH for best results.
- I also like the results obtained with eco prints, even there are some metal mordants used, but only metal oxides and this provides different possibilities.

So, I keep going with several methods, depending on my needs.
I will show more results from my dyeing experiments soon.

Sandra's Loom Blog: Wood Dye

Sandra's Loom Blog: Wood Dye

I found this a very interesting article about natural dyeing, so decided to post it here.

The day after Yasi

Yasi came, brought wind and rain, more elsewhere than here. All together, we were enough to the north of the cyclone, to be spared from a lot of damage. The areas more south are seriously affected with a lot of structural damage and loss of houses. Only one death so far.
It was a long night and we were all very tired. I needed the whole day yesterday to relax.

For dyers like me, there are lots of leaves and twigs to collect. Above are some casuarina and eucalyptus leaves. I have still to find eucalyptus leaves here, that give another colour than yellow or tan.

I felted a poncho today, using a silk piece that I dyed more than a month ago with the eco print. I don't know the name of the flowers. Here is a close image of the flower:


Here is the silk with the flowers and some rusted iron on top of it, ready to being rolled into a bundle. The middle row has fresh flowers, the other rows frozen with bits of iron:

The fabric after steaming

The fabric lays in the other direction here than with the flowers still on.

The flowers turned a more beige colour with iron. I have now frozen the flowers and am dyeing another piece of silk with them in the freezer. I might take that out soon. It has been in there for a few weeks now. I just don't know yet how long to leave it in there, but I am getting curious.

I will post a photo of the poncho in a few days, when I have one.

The future of natural dyeing

Or is it the future of fashion? ( found this on India Flints blog): Read what designer Zac Posen says

More dye experiments

Next to my market stall at the Port Douglas market, there is a tree that intrigued me. It dropped beautiful red leaves as well as yellow and green leaves at about 6 months ago. So I decided to do eco print samples with the green leaves and the red ones, of course, hoping that I would get a beautiful red. I know it doesn't work like that though. I don't know the name of the tree but someone told me it is called dead horse tree. I cannot find a tree named like that, so it is probably some local common name. The name comes from the fact that the blossoms smell like a dead animal. Anyway, I show the results of my dyeing here, I did them 6 months ago and they have become darker since. The photos are taken a few days ago. I haven't added any iron, just alum.

red leaves

green leaves

green leaves and lemon

As I said, the colours were very pale in the beginning and they gradually became darker. I have seen that more with the eco dyeing. I have it with another piece, I will make photos and post it as well.

Mangosteen skins on cotton

Here is a dye sample with mangosteen skins. The mangosteen skins were hammered onto the cotton when they were still fresh.More about dyeing with mangosteen skins:

http://lizetfrijters.blogspot.com/2010/05/dyeing-with-mangosteen-skins.html

A Rainbow Palette

A great article about a small business in natural dyeing in handeye magazine.

A Rainbow Palette

More Rust Tunics

I have made more rust summer tunics as they are very popular and I love making them. They are light as a feather and so soft to wear.

Rust summer tunic with white merino wool

Rust summer tunic with orange merino wool

Grey and purple rust summer tunic. In this one I dyed the silk with logwood after the rust dyeing.

Dyeing Wool Slivers

When dyeing wool slivers, it is recommended adjusting the dyeing techniques to prevent the wool from felting in the dye bath. I have dyed my wool for years straight into the dye bath and checked regularly to keep the temperature just below boiling point. Most of the time it worked but now and then I forgot and the wool got a bit felted in the dye pot.

As I dye all my wool with natural dyes, I need to bring it to the boil twice, once for mordanting and once for dyeing, so there is even more chance of felting.

So, I have adjusted my technique and can relax now why I am dyeing wool.

(I have taken off the lid of the dyepot, just for the image)

I use the french "au bain marie" way. My dyebath is filled up with the mordant or dye solution and the wool goes in there. I put this pot into a bigger one, filled with water. There needs to be a space in the bottom between the two pots, so that the dye pot has water around it at all sides. I bring the water to the boil and the dyebath will heat up, but not boil completely.

The wool comes out perfectly unharmed.

Energywise, it would be a lot better if the dyepot was lower than the heigth of the water pot, because than I could put a lid it. I am still looking around for the right sizes that suit me.

Dyeing with mangosteen skins

Recently the mangosteen season was at it's peak and we enjoyed eating the delicious fruit.

For those who don't know mangosteen, it is a tropical fruit, covered by a thick maroon skin and the white pieces inside, is the part that we eat.

I collected all the skins, knowing that they are very rich in tannin, which is of course interesting for natural dyeing.

I dried some of the skins for future use. We had so many though that I thought I needed to find another way of storage because of lack of space.

I first soaked the skins in a bucket with water. Than I boiled the skins to extract even more colour than in the cold water.

I decided to dye my white nuno felted dress in cotton and wool in this dyebath ( after removing the skins) and brought it to the boil. I did not use any mordant. Here is the result, still a bit pale; I might dye over it again later:

I now have stored the remaining liquid in our freezer and will see how that will be going.  I have put some mangosteen skins in the freezer and want to try the cold technique with them later.

Some more dyeing with yellow cosmos

Yesterday, I promised you a follow-up post on how I dyed my skeins with yellow cosmos. I wanted to make multicoloured yarn and crochet a jumper for me out of it. Well, I have finished the dyeing, the crochet is still to be done.

I have first mordanted the yarn with alum. In the meantime I boiled the yellow cosmos flowers (freshly picked from our garden) in water and poored the liquid through a sieve. This liquid,the dye bath, became dark yellow to brown and the wool was heated up in there to just under boiling point. I kept it at that temperature for an hour or so. The picture below shows the results.


I used iron water as a modifier, by painting it on certain areas of the wool, you can see it below.

I gave it some time to react, although it went very fast and here, you can see already how the colour has changed to olive green at certain areas.


Below you can see the final stage:
I painted on a solution of baking soda, dissolved in water, only at some places. The yellow turned orange and the green turned brown.
I now have skeins with several different colours: yellow, orange, olive green, which turned out even a bit grey at some areas, brown and a few shades in between.

Here is also a link to a previous post about dyeing with yellow cosmos:

http://lizetfrijters.blogspot.com/2008/11/magic-yellow-cosmos.html

Caring for naturally dyed fibres

Did you buy an item that has been dyed with natural dyes and you forgot how to care for your item? I will explain it here as good as I can.

Fibres dyed with natural dyes can change colour, depending on the pH level of the liquid in which is was dyed.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40031601

For example, this red nuno felt shawl is dyed with brazilwood after using a mordant of alum and cream of tartar, which makes the dyebath more acid. It creates a beautiful bright red. If I would put it into a bath that is even more acid, the colour would shift to orange. If I would add an alkaline modifier, such as baking soda for example, the colour turns more towards maroon. These changes are very exciting when we like them to occur.

But what if later on, we want to wash a felted scarf and we don't know whether the colour is going to be changed by the pH of the soap solution that we will be using for the washing? Very simple, either, wash it in just water or use a washing liquid that has a neutral pH, this means, pH 7.

To help you a bit, most dishwashing liquids are more or less neutral. Use a tiny bit of it in your washing water. DO NOT add lemon juice or vinegar to your washing water. If you are washing wool, felt included, make sure to treat it gentle and avoid moving and stirring.

Some colours are not at all sensitive to pH changes, such as indigo blue.

Dyeing with onion skins

Dyeing with onion skins is very rewarding, it yields beautiful golds and yellows. Onion skins are often used for dyeing, because they are easy to find, almost everyone uses onion on a regular basis.

I like to show you how I use them, which is one of the many different ways to dye with onion skins.

I keep all the skins when we use onions and put them in a little fruitnet or in a paper bag, so that the air can get to them and they dry in the bag. When I have collected enough onion skins, minimum 100g of onion skins for 100g of dry weigth of fibres, I get some wool or silk together and prepare it for dyeing. See my previous post:

http://lizetfrijters.blogspot.com/2010/01/introduction-to-natural-dyeing-scouring.html

A mordant is needed for the dye to fix well to the fibres. Mordants will help the fibres to absorb the dye and make them colour fast.

I use alum (aluminium potassium sulphate). You can find this salt in many pharmacies. If you are lucky like me, you might be able to find the natural rock alum. I am very happy with that and I use it in the same way.

After washing the fibres well, I fill my dye pot with enough water, so that the fibres can move loosely. ( you can use a pot in any material, it will though affect the end result; stainless steel is neutral and will not react with the fibres).

I weigh the alum; 10% of the dry weight of the fibres, if you are going to dye wool and 20% for silk; and dissolve into the water.

Time to put the fibres in the pot and heat them to just under boiling temperature. I leave it at that temperature for about an hour and than let it cool down slowly.

You can let it go to boiling temperature and simmer it for an hour.

I avoid that for the following reasons:

-silk looses some of its lustre when boiled.

-I often dye wool slivers for feltmaking and if I would simmer them, they are more prone to start felting already in the dyepot, which makes felting harder later on.

I turn off the heat source and let the fibres cool down in the pot. I usually leave them in the alum solution overnight, so that the alum can more penetrate into the fibres.

Meanwhile, I soak the onion skins in water overnight and bring to just under boiling temperature the next day. When the solution is cooled down, I pass it through a sieve, even through a cloth, so that no little pieces stay in the water and dirty the wool. I dry the onion skins and use them for a later dye bath, they will give off less colour though.

Now, I can add the fibres to the onion water and bring the temperature to just under boiling point, leaving it there for about 60 to 90 minutes. If you try this, make sure all the fibres are completely immersed in the water. I do not stir too much when I am dyeing wool slivers, when dyeing with silk, I stir now and than.

I usually leave the fibres in the dye bath overnight.

Rinse and dry.

The result of the silk dyed in the first dye bath.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24137985

Onion skins give a beautiful gold colour. It is possible to dye more fibre in the leftover dye bath, it just will produce a lighter colour.

This silk is dyed in the second dye bath and shows a much lighter colour.

Here are a few possibilities to alter the colour and get different colours out of one dye bath:

1. alum mordant

2. alum mordant and put into a solution of washing soda after the dyeing.

3. alum mordant and put into iron water made with rusted nails, the colour gets more green if it is left in there for longer

4. is number 3 put into a solution of washing soda afterwards.

This shows how we can modify the colour by altering the pH. Adding lemon juice or vinegar will turn the wool more yellow. It is fun to play with these possibilities.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24137985

Introduction to natural dyeing: scouring silk and wool.

Scouring fibres or fabrics is the term used for removing dirt or grease through scrubbing or washing them with a detergent, depending on the kind of fibre used. Scouring is needed if you want to dye the fibre afterwards, otherwise the dye will stick to the dirt instead of to the fibre and will be gradually rub off in the future.

If you buy wool slivers or yarn and you are sure that they have been cleaned thoroughly, there is no need to go through the scouring process.

If you use wool fleece, soak the wool in water overnight. The next morning remove the water (you can use it for watering your vegetables). Repeat this until most of the dirt comes out of the wool. Adding a bit of warm water makes it easier, however be very carefull not to create any sudden shock for the wool by putting it from cold straight into hot water. Most wool has felting qualities and it can start felting during the washing process if handled in a rough way or by sudden temperature changes. Next time, add wool washing liquid to the water and let the wool soak for a while. More dirt will come out, together with the grease. You might need to repeat this several times, until the water is totally clean. Rinse and dry the wool or keep it wet if you are ready to start the dyeing process.

Silk fibres, yarn or fabrics need to be degummed. Often it has been done before you purchase the silk, I tend to do the scouring anyway, just to make sure that no residues are left. Gradually heat up the silk in a solution of water and soft soap. Bring it close to boiling and keep it at that temperature for approx. an hour. Boiling takes away some of the beautiful lustre of the silk, so it is better to avoid it. Let it cool down. If the silk is still sticky, repeat the process. Otherwise rinse the fibres or fabric and dry.

Your material is now ready for mordanting, which I will explain in another post.

Freeform Lace shawls

This shawl is sold

These Freeform Lace, Felt Art Shawls are made from hand felted organic merino wool pieces and nuno felted pieces, sewn together with recycled fabric ribbons.

The ribbons are cut offs from industrial weaving.

They are a nice addition to your evening outfit.

Purple freeform lace felt art shawl:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27660641

Preparing fibres for natural dyeing.

Preparing the fibres:
Before dyeing fibres, whether it is for natural or synthetic dyes, we will need to scour them. This means, we need to clean them properly so that there are no residues of grease, dirt or chemicals left. If there is dirt left in the fibres, the dyes will stick to the dirt and will disappear with washing them afterwards or give your hands a nice, but often undesirable colour.

Wool:
For raw uncarded wool straight from the fleece, I soak it for several hours and keep repeating it as long as a lot of dirt comes out (note: you can use this rinsing water for your plants, it is rich in nitrogen). Now add dishwashing liquid to the water and let it soak for a while. You might have to do that a few times and rinse it well afterwards, until the water becomes clean. Be wary to never pouring hot water onto the fibres or handle them roughly , because the wool might start to felt.

Wool slivers are cleaned, washed and carded, so there is no real need to go through this whole process. You will still need to soak them in clean water before mordanting or dyeing. The only risk with the slivers is that they can have residues of chemicals in them, which might interfere with the dyeing. This is one of the many reasons to use organic wool slivers, that have been processed without chemicals.

Silk fibres or fabrics need to be gradually brought to just under the boiling temperature and kept at that temperature for 1 hour. Boiling can damage the fibres. If the silk has not be de-gummed yet, it needs to be heated up with dishwashing liquid. Repeat this process until the silk doesn't feel sticky anymore.

Vegetable fibres, such as cotton, hemp and linen need to be boiled off with washing soda for 1 hour. If the fibres are new and still have wax in them, you will see the water turn yellow to light brown. In that case it could be safe to repeat the process. If you need to prepare a lot of fabric, you can put it in the washing machine at the highest temperature, close to the boiling temperature and add the washing soda to it.

When the fibres are well clean, they can be used for dyeing.