Does anyone have a dye garden?

[Seahorse]

I went to a dyeing workshop at the weekend and discovered how easy it can be to get funky effects using different techniques. The dyes we used were all commercial preparations but I know you can get great results with plant dyes too. I've found a bit of info via Googling and have ordered some books from the library but I'd love to know if anyone here grows plants for dyeing and if you do, what they are and what sort of results you've had.

I'm hoping to have my own dye garden next year

[Snadger]

Facinating stuff Seahorse! I'll watch this thread with interest!

[Two_Sheds]

I did a degree in Textiles, and specialised in natural dyes. Onion skins were easy, but smelt like onion soup while 'doing'. Pomegranate is a great dye, as it contains its own fixative, so you don't have to add that separately.

[grass routes]

I have alkanet growing on my plot and a friend told me that the roots make a nice red dye. What kind of fixative would it need to make it set? I have dyed cloth with turmeric for a festival and it looked fab. Have not tried to wash it though.

[Two_Sheds]

Alkanet makes a purple/blue dye, not red? Colour depends on the dye stuff, the fabric, and the mordant used, as well as temperature and time. It's chemistry, botany and alchemy: totally unpredictable, and results are usually un-repeatable.
Alkanet (Alkanna tinctoria) is the true alkanet, and its roots produce a purple dye used in textiles and soap. False Alkanet (Anchusa officinalis) is also known as Common Bugloss, Common Anchusa or Dyers' Bugloss.
As to fixative/mordant, that depends on the fabric you are dyeing. Anchusa officinalis root + acetic acid as a mordant produces a soft pink-brown dye.
this is a good little site: Natural dyes from dye plants - Wild Colours by Teresinha Roberts

[Two_Sheds]

I have dyed cloth with turmeric for a festival and it looked fab. Have not tried to wash it though.

If you don't "fix" your dye, it will just wash out. Alum will fix your turmeric dye.

[Starchild]

Weld, woad, nettles, onion skins.

I am in the process of turning the front garden (poncy and inedible) into a scented/herbal/dye garden. Got many of my seeds from Nicky's.

[Snadger]

Alkanet makes a purple/blue dye, not red? Colour depends on the dye stuff, the fabric, and the mordant used, as well as temperature and time. It's chemistry, botany and alchemy: totally unpredictable, and results are usually un-repeatable.
Alkanet (Alkanna tinctoria) is the true alkanet, and its roots produce a purple dye used in textiles and soap. False Alkanet (Anchusa officinalis) is also known as Common Bugloss, Common Anchusa or Dyers' Bugloss.
As to fixative/mordant, that depends on the fabric you are dyeing. Anchusa officinalis root + acetic acid as a mordant produces a soft pink-brown dye.
this is a good little site: Natural dyes from dye plants - Wild Colours by Teresinha Roberts

Like the sound of the Alchemy TS!

[bluemoon]

I'm just in the process of setting up a huge herb garden, much of which will be used for dying herbs. It's not something I've ever done before, but I've just started learning to spin and it seems a shame to put in all that effort then dye the wool with horrible synthetic stuff. I have two books, 'A Dyer's Garden' and 'A Weaver's Garden', both by Rita Bucanan. They were a Christmas present from a friend, but I believe she bought them off Amazon. The books have been helpful, but they're American so what's available here as wild often has to be cultivated there and vice versa, but they give you good ideas about the colours that can be obtained using various mordants (one even has a little colour chart thing on each page). I also had this idea that I was only going to use native plants, but I'm not sure about that now. Either way it's all academic as the only colours I'll need for the foreseeable future are browns and blues to match most of my home - my current spinning efforts being so rough that the resultant wool is only fit for rugs.

[areia]

surely beetroot would make a good dye stains everything else its touches

[Seahorse]

Thanks everyone.

bluemoon, I was thinking of buying the books you mention (sadly not available from my library). Good to know your thoughts on them.

Two_Sheds, is there a book (or books) that you'd recommend? I prefer to jump in at the deep end with stuff, so I'd prefer an expert kind of thing to a beginners volume

[Nicos]

This is something which interests me too!

My concern is ..how do you make a natural dye colour-fast????

I recall something about urine being a fixer or something????

Surely there is a modern equivalent???

[Birdie Wife]

Wow, what a great concept! I know you can get lots of dye plants and other very useful plants from Plants with Purpose, have you had a look at their website?

[Starchild]

This is something which interests me too!

My concern is ..how do you make a natural dye colour-fast????

I recall something about urine being a fixer or something????

Surely there is a modern equivalent???

Alum is used mostly. if you google dyeing supplies there should be somewhere that can help.

[Two_Sheds]

Two_Sheds, is there a book (or books) that you'd recommend?

I used this one at college. £3.35 on amazon:Amazon.co.uk: The Craft of Natural Dyeing: Jenny Dean: Books