Can anyone point me in the direction of a good book on how to grow dye plants? I`m a spinner and am interested in learning to dye my wool and yarns with natural dyes. I feel I need to get the dye plant area of the allotment going this year, so that I have enough plant material to use next year. But I don`t really know where to start or what the best plants to grow in my draughty corner of Scotland are.
Any advice welcome!
Val.
Dye plants in the allotment.
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud
-
maureenc
Hi Val,
I have two excellent books on this subject:
"A Dyer's Garden" by Rita Buchanan which shows you what to grow, where and how to grow it and what colours you will achieve on different materials.
"A Dyer's Manual" by Jill Goodwin which is jam=packed with good information and tips.
Both books are readily available via Amazon etc.
Woad (the ancient Celtic blue dye) plants are very easy to grow from seed and seem to be almost indestructible. I moved my 6-month old plants from one bed to another in October because I needed the space they were in. I thought they would almost certainly be gonners but they are still going strong. We had severe droughts last summer and freezing stuff this winter and they are completely exposed to the elements.
If you like the wonderful Autumnal browns and oranges then you can simply use the humble onion. Broad beans will give you a deep green.
There was also a very intersting article about dying and dye plants in TKG January 2005.
Beetroot - brown/black
Lavender - Green/Yellow
Oranges - Lemon/Yellow
Parsley - Yellow/Green
Parsnip - Stone
Runners bean - Pink beige
Sage Yellow
Tomato Plant - Pale Lemon
The colour will always be different depending on the material you are dying, the mordant you are using to fix the dye, the freshness etc of the plants and a million other elements probably beyond our control!
Hope this helps. Good luck and have loads of fun.
Maureen
I have two excellent books on this subject:
"A Dyer's Garden" by Rita Buchanan which shows you what to grow, where and how to grow it and what colours you will achieve on different materials.
"A Dyer's Manual" by Jill Goodwin which is jam=packed with good information and tips.
Both books are readily available via Amazon etc.
Woad (the ancient Celtic blue dye) plants are very easy to grow from seed and seem to be almost indestructible. I moved my 6-month old plants from one bed to another in October because I needed the space they were in. I thought they would almost certainly be gonners but they are still going strong. We had severe droughts last summer and freezing stuff this winter and they are completely exposed to the elements.
If you like the wonderful Autumnal browns and oranges then you can simply use the humble onion. Broad beans will give you a deep green.
There was also a very intersting article about dying and dye plants in TKG January 2005.
Beetroot - brown/black
Lavender - Green/Yellow
Oranges - Lemon/Yellow
Parsley - Yellow/Green
Parsnip - Stone
Runners bean - Pink beige
Sage Yellow
Tomato Plant - Pale Lemon
The colour will always be different depending on the material you are dying, the mordant you are using to fix the dye, the freshness etc of the plants and a million other elements probably beyond our control!
Hope this helps. Good luck and have loads of fun.
Maureen