Eco Dyeing with Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’ Berries Part 4
This is my 3rd experiment with the berries.
They are starting to wither because the weather is getting colder.
I cut them open and inside is a yellowish color and what appears to be a tiny seed.
The fabric that I decided to use is the one
from the last berry experiment -
the one that turned out like a light beige
Boiled tap water (I decided to check with my
local Water Dept. and asked what chemicals
are in the water - Answer - "We only add
Chlorine and Fluoride to our water.")
and alum placed the fabric in just for about
10 min. -- rinsed.
Flattened the fabric on the table and placed
the berries on top
I then rolled the fabric and tied it.
It was steamed for about one hour - shut off
- then later on I decided to steam it again
for about one hour.
Left it until the next day until it dried
Then unwrapped
You can see the pinkish color and all of
the color is out of the berries.
Notice now the brownish marks on the left
side of the cloth
In this photo you can clearly see the
pinkish colors, from the outside of the
berries, some yellow - from the inside
of the berries and the brownish marks -
I'm thinking that the brownish marks
are from the berries when all of the reddish
color is heated out.
and as in the photo you can see the berries
are now brown.
I can also detect some bluish/purplish
spotted colors ...???
This completely baffles me.
Washed the fabric with woolite
pink and yellow washed out but
you can see the hint of blue
A very slight hue of pink, golds, beige
and the light blue marks...???
As blue is a primary color; you can't
mix colors to achieve it. So this has
me scratching my head as to where this
color came from? Interesting....no?
I'm working on two more experiments
with the berries.... but I can tell
you so far -- the results are going
to be similar.
I'm also working on more experimentation
with the leaves. I love the leaves!
They give the most color.
Happy Dyeing!
Eco Dyeing with Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’ Berries Part I
Part I - is my first Berry experiment
http://materialisticvisions.blogspot.com/2014/10/autumn.html
Eco Dyeing with Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’ Leaves Part II
Part II is experimenting with the leaves
http
://materialisticvisions.blogspot.com/2014/11/eco-dyeing-with-pyracantha-orange-glow.html
This is Part III
Eco Dyeing with Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’ Berries Part III
I am experimenting with the Berries
again.
I have to hurry and collect all of the
berries that I possibly can with the
cold weather approaching they are being
to shrivel.
I put the berries in the stainless
steel pot and covered with my tap
water (which is hard). I added one
teaspoon of alum and let it simmer
not boil for one hour then let it
sit.
I forgot to take photos! ugh
I used 100% cotton fabric - one half
yard (no weighing) boiled it and added
1 teas. washing soda and 1 teas. alum.
But here's the color in the jar...
Looks like a light orange. I let it
sit in the jar for about 5 days -
continually stirring it around.
Trying not to get too excited with
the lovely color because we know
by now - what you see is NOT what
you get!
I took the fabric out and rinsed it
in luke warm water and not surprising
the color came out and I would say
it's a light beige. booo
So now I get this brainstorm! What if...
I put the liquid left from the leaves
and the liquid left from the berries
and see what happens.
I took one cup of the leaves liquid
and added one cup of the berry liquid.
The cotton fabric boiled in soda ash
and alum, rinsed and put in the jar
with the berry/leaves liquid mix.
Fabric soaked for about
3 days. Dried the fabric and rinsed
and dried again.
This is the result
It does have a hint of color.
(what's remaining in the jar is
another experiment with white cotton
DMC thread)
You can see a hint of orange.
Here's the two results together
I'm beginning to wonder what the
results would have been if I omitted
the soda ash in the fabric.
I do have some berries left and
am thinking of trying something
different.
Stay tuned!
My previous post
Eco Dyeing with Pyracantha ‘Orange Glow’ Berries
Part I
http://materialisticvisions.blogspot.com/2014/10/autumn.html
Pyracantha - is listed as an evergreen
shrub - it has very sharp thorns.
This is a follow up with more
experimentation. This time with the
leaves.
Only this time I used a stainless
steel pot instead of the anodized
aluminum that I used previously.
I started with the leaves
(maybe about 2 cups) I then added water
(this time I used my tap water)
just enough to cover the leaves. I
heated the water, just one boil and
lowered the heat and left it cooking
for about one hour. I added nothing
to this liquid. Turned off the heat
and left it soaking for about 24 hours.
I then strained it -
ooh lala - see the paper towel! I have
high hopes for this one!
The fabric I used is 100% cotton
(fat quarter size) that
I boiled and then added 1 teaspoon
of alum.
I then put all of this in a jar...
I left it on the window sill for
about one week.
Took the fabric out of the jar
and rinsed it in warm water. I then
used woolite to wash.
Now I'm even more excited because
the color is NOT washing out! Yeah!
Here is the fabric hanging on my
curtain rod drying. Looks good!
Trying to get a good photo of the
color but in each photo the color
looks different.
I think I would call it a pumpkin
orange leaning to the brown side.
And here it is ironed - the color
stayed the same. With some other
experiments I had the color change
as soon as the iron hit it.
The only other test I would like to
do with this piece is a light test -
by exposing a square to the sunlight
and enclosing the rest of the fabric
with two card board pieces. I will
leave it in the sunlight for a couple
of days and see what happens. Hopefully
it will pass the test.
I am very happy with the results!
It will be interesting to do this
experiment again in the spring just
to see if there is a difference in
color. In the spring the Pyracantha
has white flowers - the berries come
out in the fall.
My next post will be about the
berries that were on this vine -
I'm redoing the experiment again.
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!
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
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.
