Natural Dye Workshop

It's day 2 of the natural dye workshop. On the first day, students learned how to mordant cellulose (plant) fiber to obtain saturated colors. Today we focused on single color dyeing, discussing what dyes are light- and wash-fast on cotton. Tomorrow, we will experiment with color mixing. Check out the pictures below to see what dyes we are using.


Lydia is dyeing with myrobalan, a dye that is commonly used in India to produce a warm yellow.
Elizabeth is dyeing with weld, a bright cool yellow. Weld grows well in the Chicago area.
Hannah used Logwood Grey, a mixture of logwood purple and iron to produce this warm purple.
Cheryl bright red orange cloth was dyed with madder root, a plant that you can also add to your local garden.
Frances warm red brown is dyed with the heartwood from the cutch tree.