Eco Dyeing - Cleome

Cleome - sometimes called Spider Flower

What's so great about these plants

is that they self seed. 

Those little pods you see hanging

contain the seeds. 

About 2 weeks ago I started saving

some of these seeds for my daughter

to plant in her garden. 

Looking at the Cleomes; I wondered if I

could extract any dye from the purple 

colored flowers.

But first I google them to make sure

they are safe and not poisonous in 

any way.  Surprisingly, I found that

they are called an Herb and used

medicinally! This is truly an amazing

and versatile plant! 

To my amazement I didn't find through

my google search anyone who had used

this plant for dyeing. Not that I could

find with photos anyway.

I put the flower heads in the pot and covered

with water and heated not boiled for about 

one hour. The liquid looked purple.

                                                    (Kitchenaid - anodized aluminum)
(Edited - Using this pot was a mistake  - I realized that when I did
another experiment with the  Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’in my previous
post - which by the way I'm doing a second time using a Stainless Steel
pot instead - It has made a huge difference!)

1- 100% cotton fabric soaked in hot salted water then rinsed

I poured the purplish colored liquid in a

small tupperware and added the wet fabric -

I then cut  a lemon in half (no measurement)

and just squeezed a few drops into the

liquid and stirred it around it turned Pink!

(I keep forgetting to take step by step photos!)
  
2 - 100% cotton fabric 

The second piece of cotton fabric I soaked 

in hot salted water then rinsed

I poured some of the pink liquid in a small

tupperware and added maybe 1/4 teas. of alum

and added the fabric. It didn't look like

anything changed so I added a couple of

drops of ammonia and it turned purple...?

I let the fabrics soak in the liquid

for about 2 days. Took them out and

rinsed in cold water. I did not wash

them in a detergent yet because I wanted

to find a natural detergent for them.

Here's what they look after they dried

A nice shade of pink the other is

like a greyish purple.

Now for the third experiment

3- 100% cotton fabric - nothing added
was just washed.

I poured some of this same purplish liquid

into yet another small tupperware added the

fabric - stirred it around and then added a

couple of drops of ammonia and it turned

Green! 

 

Here's the results along with the pink.

The purplish cloth is such an odd

color - it looks grey, purplish and

I can see some pink.

Today I washed the fabrics above with a 

light colorless detergent and I was so

disappointed that the pink changed ....

to a minty green color. 

The original green stayed green after

washing. And the purplish grey also

turned....

A greenish blue. As you can tell I

haven't ironed the fabrics yet. My 

next test with these fabrics will be

what happens when they are exposed to

sunlight for a long period.

It would be interesting to try different

mordants and see the results.

I won't be able to do this experiment again

until next year - no more Cleome flowers.



I hope that someone who is more experienced

than I am will try using the Cleome plant.

Perhaps, they can coax more vibrant colors

than I did and maybe some new ones!  If you 

try this please let me know your results!


Notes:

After I tried my experiment with the Purple Cleome -

I found some interesting facts about this plant!

 " If you boil it down enough, you end up with a black syrup, quite thick, which acts as a binding agent for pigments, ideal for painting on unfired pottery."


" Native American recipes in fact have Cleome cooked, most frequently boiled, often eaten like spinach, or the seeds, which are often eaten raw, boiled into a porridge-like mush. Seeds are also sometimes ground into a flour or meal, and has been used for bread since prehistoric times."

You can read more here
Read Here

Happy Dyeing!

 

Eco Dyeing - Beets

I was on Pinterest and saw some Dark Pink 

cloth that was dyed with beets. However, after going

to the web page  I discovered that the photo was

taken before  it was washed. 

So, I decided to give it a go anyway. I had to

satisfy my curiosity.  I bought fresh beets and

only peeled a large one. I hate wasting food.

I did not take step by step photos - I forgot!

I remembered as I had the pieces soaking

in the sink.

  Pretty pink colors!

I used on one a piece of silk and on the other

one cotton.




Here is where I found some good info. on beets -

Beetroot

 "Cut beetroot retains its purple-red colour well in acidic solutions such as malt vinegar (acetic acid)." 


But they didn't mean on fabric! (but I tried it anyway)



 Needless to say, the color washed out.
Leaving this ecru color. 


The conclusion -
"There have been repeated attempts to use beetroot as a natural dye for textiles.....
 . The red colour of beetroot cannot be fixed with any of the mordants traditionally used in textile dying. A method of obtaining a colour-fast red dye from beetroot would enable it to be exploited as a natural textile dye." 

 http://www.stephennottingham.co.uk/beetroot5.htm

Eco Dyeing with Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’ Berries Part I

Autumn is one of my favorite seasons. I was married one 

rainy autumn day and my children were born in autumn.

The landscape grows more colorful with each passing day and

best of all "no humidity"!

Here in Lancaster, I can see hundreds of migratory birds 

passing and resting in the trees back in the farmers field. 

Flying down to the fields gleaning what's left of the crops. It

never ceases to fascinate me!

Walking around the yard; I'm looking for some plants or 

leaves to eco dye.  On the side of my house I see the bright 

berries on this  evergreen shrub ..........................

Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’

I'm wondering if I can use the berries to eco dye cloth...?

Pretty  - aren't they?

 I google to find out First - if it's poisonous in any way!  

(I am not an authority on eco dyeing - please research first! I just love experiemnting - safely!)

I also google to see if anyone has had any success with the 

berries.  Can't find anyone who has tried it. Oh well ..... let's 

do it!

I put about 3 cups of berries and 3 cups of distilled

water in a pot.

I only use this pot for plants. (I'm really not sure

what it's made out of but it says Kitchenaid on the

handle. I'm thinking that it might be made of 

 anodized aluminum as I still see them on sale.)

I don't boil  - just heat for about 20 min. 

As I'm not sure if I should add alum to the liquid

or only the fabric?  I added about 1 teas. of alum

to the liquid. Cotton fabric was washed and soak in

boiling water.

I had it soaking for about 24 hours.

 

 I left the berries with the liquid in the jar.

Here's what it looked like when I removed

the fabric.  Disappointed!

A light ecru with some light yellow spots.

 A closer look with some residue on the fabric.

I will let this dry and then rinse.

Now this is interesting - I had a tubberware outside

on the table. I had put a piece of  cotton fabric in the 

tubberware and just put some berries on top. This

was not intentional!  It then rained and I forgot 

about the tubberware on the table.  About 3 or 4 

days later I went out and found what happened

(I forgot to takes photos!~)

But this is what the fabric looked like when dried.

The colors are tan and the marks of the berries

are brownish. I like this one; it's more interesting

and I like the marks on the fabric. I might do 

this one again with a larger piece. 

But wait..... that ecru color fabric turned a different

color ! 

washed, dried and ironed - now it looks greyish!

I left the berries and liquid in the jar and placed

another piece of fabric inside for one week.

Nothing earth shattering - it has a greenish hue.

This piece has not been washed yet. 

I'm thinking that the piece with the yellow spots

maybe due to the green pieces of leaves and 

small stems left in the pot?  I'll have to try the

leaves next.

Will try to do a follow up on this.