Dyes: Batch 1 Gather + Prep
I’ve improved at identifying plants over the last few years, but my interest is strongest when I find hands-on ways to interact with them. I had been reading books about natural dyes but was always too nervous to start. I recently attended a buckthorn dye workshop, which gave me the encouragement that I needed. We dyed 100% cotton fabric scraps that had been pre-mordanted with aluminum acetate and calcium carbonate, then dyed with bark from invasive common buckthorn.
I’ll be doing a similar process, swapping out the calcium carbonate with wheat bran because it’s easier to find locally. (Edit: I later found calcium carbonate at a local homebrew supplies shop, so it’s not too hard to find afterall!) These instructions by Botanical Colors are guiding me.
It’s March in Chicago. I don’t have fresh leaves or flowers to work with, but I found great dye materials in my cabinet and in the alley behind our apartment. I spent last summer walking around my neighborhood to familiarize myself with plants nearby. It shows that dyeing can be done all year round if you know where to look! I’m using:
Bark from a thicket of invasive red mulberry Morus rubra in our alleyway
Dehydrated mulberry leaves and staghorn sumac berries that I foraged for tea last year
Black walnuts that we stored in my friend’s freezer last summer
As I walked to my friend’s condo to pick up the walnuts, I had the fortune of finding oak galls! iNat says it is Oak Rough Bulletgall Wasp
Oak Galls on a street tree in Chicago
Sumac is special for so many reasons, and it grows in massive, dense thickets near my parents’ home in Michigan. Back in September, I gathered, dried, and sifted through the berries to make tea throughout winter.
I took rough measurements of the dry materials, mostly as a point of reference for next time I use them. The galls and walnut were smashed, then the five materials were mixed with tap water in separate glass jars. I placed them in the stockpot on the stove for a few hours at low heat, then let them sit overnight. I haven’t used any of these materials before, so I’m giving them all the same treatment. Here’s how they looked in the morning:
I want to stretch these dye baths so that I can experiment separately with iron and soda ash. I can use these “mini” dye baths multiple times before exhausting them, so I have a lot to play with here!
