THE SECRET GARDEN, 20 MINUTES SOUTH OF NORWICH

SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 10AM -4PM

Before the advent of chemical dyes, all colour came from natural sources. Today natural dyes are enjoying a renaissance as people rediscover how to create these vibrant shades in a sustainable way.   In this exclusive one day workshop I will share my knowledge and skills with you and show you how to use safe, non toxic materials and methods to get beautiful colour from plant sources, many of which can be found growing locally.

We will work with fabrics and yarn to create a collection of beautiful colours to use in your future textiles projects.

Workshop fee £105* includes all materials, refreshments and a delicious lunch made from local ingredients.

The workshop will be held outdoors with large undercover alternative spaces (to allow safe social distancing) available in case of inclement weather.

Limited places available for this special day.

*I will be donating a percentage of my workshop fee to help some of my artisan friends in Morocco who are unable to work due to Covid19 pandemic.

#earthday2020 #togetheralone #100dayproject2020... Took a break from things for a while to enjoy #metime #slowdown #lockdown

Enjoying daily walks and finding inspiration.. #bedfordcord #coloursofnorfolk ##plantcolour #backtomypots #backontheloom

Happy #earthday

back here soon…

pop up dye kitchen

#the100dayproject
#isolationcreation
#togetheralone
#onedayatatime
....
DAY TWO

preparation of fibres and fabrics, using what I have and trying some new ideas.

I have deliberately set myself limitations on what equipment I use, where I work and what materials I work with. I hope that you may be inspired to try some of these recipes and techniques yourself, working within the confines of a domestic setting, without any special equipment and using ingredients that are still available by mail order and online.

I have set up my dye kitchen in the courtyard -

Folding aluminium camping table
VonShef electric induction hob and a 15m extension lead with safety cutout
stainless pots and pans from car boot sales, charity shops
15l bucket and various old plastic basins/bowls/used takeaway containers
dedicated spoons, wooden and steel for dye use only
colander
digital kitchen weighing scales
folding drying rack
some old towels

water from the kitchen sink or outside tap!

The first task is to prepare my materials for dyeing.

First step is to make sure the cotton sheeting was scoured, I ran it through the washing machine at 60 degrees with a tablespoon of washing soda to strip any excess fabric conditioner, washing powder and make sure it was good and clean and ready to receive my colours. The wools are natural ecru but still need a pre-soak in warm water with a drop of eco handwash to remove any factory finish and prepare them.

So, bearing in mind that there are three types of dyes I will be working with :

Adjective dyes - the fibre will need prior treatment (mordanting) to help the dye attach. There are various ways of doing this, I will be focussing on using natural mordants, some Alum and plant mordants which I can collect in the countryside around my home.
Substantive dyes - the dyestuff already contains something that helps the colour stick to the fibre, for example pomegranate skin has a lot of tannin which acts as a built in mordant and helps colour bond
VAT dyes - Indigo is an example of this - the fibre does not need any pre-mordanting

I will pre-mordant the bulk of my fabrics and yarn so as to have them ready for when I make my different dye baths over the coming weeks. I find it easier to do this rather than having to mordant each time I want to do some dyeing, particularly if I just want to do a small sample or experiment with plant material I have found on my walk that day.

Mordants used :

FOR SILK AND WOOL YARN
Alum and Cream of Tartar - pre-soaked yarns added to mordant bath, simmered for one hour then left to cool in the bath. They can then be removed and either dried or wrapped in a towel ready for use within the next couple of days.

FOR COTTON FABRICS
I am trying various tannin mordants from plants for the cotton fabric pieces - all left overnight in a cool bath after preparing as follows:
Oak bark in small chips, presoaked in hot water overnight then simmered for 45 minutes, strained & cooled
Oak gall powder (Tannic Acid) dissolved in warm water then cooled
Blackberry bramble shoots simmered 45 minutes, strained and cooled

You can also use Birch Bark or Rhubarb leaves but I am just working with what I have to hand and what I can find locally. NOTE Rhubarb leaves produce Oxalic Acid which is really toxic so I prefer not to use this method.

I’m enjoying revisiting Jenny Dean’s ‘A Heritage of Colour - Natural dyes past and present’

You can buy a lot of these ingredients here

So today I prepared the following:

COLOURS OF NORFOLK YARNS
25x 20g skeins of 4ply Blue Faced Leicester
6x 100g skeins of 4 ply Blue Faced Leicester
4x 100g skeins of 2/16 Wool/silk blend

FABRIC FOR SLOW STITCH PROJECTS
10 cotton squares 40x40cm in Tannic Acid
20 cotton squares 20x20cm in Oak Bark
10 cotton pieces 20x40cm in Blackberry shoot mordant

These will be used with the adjective dyes and I have the same amount of squares available to use unmordanted with the substantive dyes and of course, in the Indigo vat!

I can feel a dyeing day coming on….

#100dayproject2020 #day1 #pinkmoon
#mordants #naturalcolour #plantdyes #mottainai #wastenothing #usewhatyouhave