A friend of mine studying art at Uni told me about the dye making class she was enrolled in and how it made her feel like a mad scientist or a wizard experimenting with different types of plants, brewing colourful concoctions. She inspired me to make my own dyes at home using different organic materials, plus it sounded like so much fun! Plus I think it would be a great way to get older kids involved in collecting and learning about different plant names and what they look and feel like.
At first I didn't know where to begin, or even how to extract colour from plants, but I came across
this VERY useful site which lists various plants that you can use to dye fabrics. But considering I don't want to dye fabrics just yet, I only used the plant information and not the recommendations for dye baths and fixatives. I also wanted to use things that I already had in or around my house as to not over complicate things.
These are the recipes and results I had using my household items.
Purple Iris - Blue
I went for a walk yesterday and I remember admiring someones Purple Iris but I didn't remember where. After scouting the neighbourhood a few times, I was about to give up when I realised it was my next door neighbours Purple Irises... I need more sleep. Anyway, I knocked on the door, told her I wanted to make dye out of her flowers and asked if I could take a few heads. My neighbour looked at me as though I was extremely odd but then told me I could take as many as I liked.
The darker the purple the better.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan place 3 roughly chopped Irises and 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until water has reduced by half.
 |
| The picture doesn't show, but the water is actually a blue colour |
Using a strainer, strain liquid into a container and allow to cool before use.
Powdered turmeric - bright yellow
In a heavy bottomed saucepan place 2 tablespoons of turmeric and 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until water has reduced by half. Using a strainer, strain liquid into a container and allow to cool before use.
Raspberries & red currants - pink
In a heavy bottomed saucepan place a handful of raspberries, a handful of red currants and 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until water has reduced by half. Using a strainer, strain liquid into a container and allow to cool before use.
Blackberries & blueberries - purple
In a heavy bottomed saucepan place a handful of blackberries, a handful of blueberries and 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until water has reduced by half. Using a strainer, strain liquid into a container and allow to cool before use.
Red onion skin - an earthy musk
In a heavy bottomed saucepan place the skin of 3 onions and 2 cups of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until water has reduced to half a cup. Using a strainer, strain liquid into a container and allow to cool before use.
Black tea - brown
In a heavy bottomed saucepan place 3 teaspoons of tea leaf and 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until water has reduced by half. Using a strainer, strain liquid into a container and allow to cool before use.
Spinach - green
In a heavy bottomed saucepan place 5 roughly chopped spinach leaves and 2 cups of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until water has reduced to half a cup. Using a strainer, strain liquid into a container and allow to cool before use.
 |
| End result of Purple Iris is on the far left |
The end result should be an array of beautiful colours in different shades. You can easily play around with different measurements and simmering times to get different results but personally I'm quite pleased with my colours, although I think the green could be a bit brighter. I might try using nettle next time.
 |
| Purple Iris, top right |
Although you can't use the inedible dyes in foods, you could most certainly use the edible ones as alternatives to store bought, preservative filled food colourings. Especially the berry based dyes for desserts or icing! I plan to use these for Grub's finger paints and playdough once I get some time to make them.
If you plan to use these, remember... they're dyes! They stain! Use an apron when making them.
Have a great weekend!
MamaKoo
(Excuse the shocking lighting of the last few photos, I ran out of daylight!)
