I used this method by Etsy (video tutorial). Most of my fabric soaked in the dye bath for 30 minutes, however the blackcurrant and turmeric dyes were so rich they didn’t need to sit in the dye for that long. Something to bear in mind is that the fabric colour will dry a little lighter so aim for a slightly darker colour when dyeing. Mine was cotton but I’d like to use linen or silk next time. Wow! What a punch in the eye after all those neutrals! This dye was made with powdered turmeric. Number 1 is darker because it sat in the dye bath for twice as long as number 2.

Adding mint leaves and lemon juice turned the lavender dye bright pink (fabrics 13 and 14) - it also smelt really good cooking on the hob. Purple disappointment aside, the dyes created dreamy colours. Lavender was a bit of a disappointment because I was expecting purple dye. Instead it was brown (fabrics 12 and 15). Nasturtium flowers simmered down to a luminous red dye which made salmon coloured fabric. It was a bit of a happy accident and there are probably more scientific ways of achieving this colour. For the bluer shades, I diluted the dye by adding more water. Natural dye: blackcurrantsīlackcurrants made a very rich plum coloured dye. Homegrown candy stripe beetroot! The flesh is only fifty percent pink so I think the dye would have been stronger if I’d used traditional hot pink beetroot. Favourite shades Natural dye: candy striped beetroot

The swatch on the end was dip dyed.īottom row from left to right: orange nasturtium flowers, candy stripe beetroot, chard leaves (beige), lavender (last four). Middle row: blackcurrants (blue/purple and plum). Top row from left to right: turmeric (yellow), red onion skins (brown), rosemary (green), blackcurrants (blue/purple). Plenty of pink and although I’m not a fan of pink I like these muted shades. Drum roll please!Ī nice range of colours don’t you think? The only colour I struggled to make was green. But to my surprise the results were actually really good. Recently I read a natural dye post on the Modern Botanics blog (beautiful, do have a look) about natural dyes and it sparked my curiosity again I decided my project could be a colour study for my illustrations rather than a finished object.īeing a natural dye noob, I was expecting to end up with a pile of sludgy brown rags. Natural dyes are something I came across on Pinterest but I put the idea of the back of my mind until I could think of a proper project.

Dying light lavender