Natural Dye – Lichen

160.22 g fiber
12.8 alum (8%)
lichen from 4/4 – 4/21 2020 (1 juice bottle + 2 spaghetti jars) (not written: soaked in an ammonia and water solution)

9/8/2020 –

Strain and heat for 45 minutes
Add alum and wet fiber
Simmer for 1 hour
Turn off heat and let sit overnight
Wash and rinse

An index card on a white table. On the right, the information from this post is handwritten in black in. On the left, 5 samples are stapled to the card.

BFL yarn is warm brown. Cotton yarn is a light pinkish beige. Bamboo yarn is an offwhite. Cotton fabric is a beige color. Cotton fabric previously dyed is a taupe brown.

BFL Yarn – Cotton Yarn – Bamboo Yarn – Cotton Fabric – Cotton Fabric Previously Dyed

Natural Dye – Logwood

An index card on a white table. On the right, the information detailed in this post is handwritten in black ink.

Samples are stapled to the left side of the card. The first sample is a previously dyed linen from my eco printing experiment, which is a grey purple. The next is a white linen fabric in a more true purple. A cotton fabric sample is a lavender color. A BFL yarn sample is a dark purple. A bamboo yarn sample is a shiny light purple that's darker than the lavender.

Below these samples is a cotton fabric dyed in the exhaust bath in a light purple color.

Previously Dyed Linen Fabric – White Linen Fabric – Cotton Fabric – BFL Yarn – Bamboo Yarn

2nd Bath with Dyed Cotton Fabric

116.5 g fiber
9.32 g alum
5 g logwood dye powder

7/4/2020 –

20 minutes soak samples and heat water
1 hour bath of alum and fiber
1 hour bath of dye and fiber (same water)
Let sit overnight
Rinse and wash

Natural Dye – Coffee with Iron Water

130 g fiber
53 g coffee
3 tbsp iron water

5/12/2020 –

3:45 pm – heat coffee (low medium)

4:45 pm – add fiber

5:45 pm – add iron water

(This is not written on the card, but the samples were left in the dye bath overnight and then washed and dried.)

An index card on a white table. On the right, the information detailed in this post is handwritten in black ink.

On the left, 5 samples are stapled to the card. The cotton fabric sample is a medium grey and the linen fabric sample is the same. The BFL Tweed yarn is a dark brown so dark is it nearly black. The cotton yarn sample is the same grey as the fabric samples. The bamboo yarn is mislabeled as linen and is a light silvery color.

Cotton Fabric – Linen Fabric – BFL Tweed Yarn – Cotton Yarn – Bamboo Yarn (mislabeled as linen)

Natural Dye – Tea with Iron Water

An index card on a white table. On the left hand side, the information from this web page is handwritten in black ink.

On the right hand side, there are 6 samples stapled to the card. 5 samples are stapled in a row and the sixth is stapled below the others. The BFL yarn is a very dark brown that appears black in most lights. The bamboo yarn is a silvery grey. The cotton yarn is a medium grey. The cotton fabric is a medium grey. The linen is a dark grey. The sample beneth the others is the 2nd bath BFL yarn,which is a dark grey brown.

1st bath – BFL Yarn – Bamboo Yarn – Cotton Yarn – Cotton Fabric – Linen Fabric

2nd bath – BFL Yarn

13 tea bags (black tea)
136.2 g fiber
+100 g yarn skein
3 tbsp iron water

5/8/2020 –

11:15 am – Heat tea (low medium)

12:30 pm – Add fiber

1:50 pm – Add iron water

2:15 pm – Turn the heat off and let sit.

4:00 pm – Reheat dye bath and add 100 g yarn

5:00 pm – Turn heat off and let sit overnight.

5/9/2020 – Wash and dry.

Natural Dye – Yellow Onion Skins with Iron Water

36 g onion skins
116.68 fiber (for iron)
100 g fiber ( without iron)
9.3 g alum (8%) (for iron)
8 g alum (8%) (without iron)
3 tbsp iron water

5/6/2020 –

8:45 am – Heat onion skins

10:00 am – add (iron) alum + fiber, soak 100g fiber

10:30 am – add alum and fiber

11:30 am – Remove 100 g fiber, add iron water

12:30 pm – turn off heat and let soak.

5/7/2020 – Remove fiber. Wash and dry.

An index card on a white table. On the left hand side, the information on this web page is handwritten in black ink.

On the right hand side, there are stapled 5 samples. The BFL yarn (no iron) is a golden yellow. The BFL yarn is a medium brown. The cotton yarn is a tan. The bamboo yarn is a tan yellow. The linen is a dark taupe.

BFL Yarn (no iron) – BFL Yarn – Cotton Yarn – Bamboo Yarn – Linen Fabric

Natural Dye – Red Onion Skins with Iron Water

An index card on a white table. On the left hand side, the information on this web page is handwritten in black ink.

On the right hand side are three samples. The BFL yarn sample is a brown. The bamboo yarn sample is a tan yellow. The linen fabric sample is an orange tan.

BFL Yarn – Bamboo Yarn – Linen Fabric

9.31 g red onion skins
87.9 g fiber
7 g alum (8%)
3 tbsp iron water

5/4/2020 –

1:25 pm – heat water and onion skins.

2:45 pm – Stir in alum + add wet fiber

3:45 pm – Stir in iron water

4:45 pm – turn off heat and let sit overnight.

5/5/2020 – Remove fiber. Wash and rinse. Let dry.

Natural Dye – Green Basil

55.2 g dried green basil (garden)
11.5 g alum
143.2 g fiber

4/5/2020 –

10:00 am – 11:00 am – simmer the basil

11:00 am – Strain leaves. Stir in alum. Add fiber.

11:05 am – 12:05 pm – Simmer fiber. Let soak in dye overnight.

4/6/2020 – Wash in Soak and hang to dry.

An index card on a white table. On the left of the card, the details of the green basil dye is handwritten in black ink.

On the right side is stapled 2 fabric samples and 3 yarn samples. The cotton fabric sample is beige. The linen fabric, cotton yarn, and bamboo yarn are off white. The BFL yarn is a tan color.

Cotton Fabric – Linen Fabric – BFL Yarn – Cotton – Bamboo Yarn

Natural Dye – Purple Basil

An index card on a white table. There is a strip of black and orange jack o' lantern washi tape along the top edge.

Handwritten on this card in black ink is two columns of the information detailed on this web page.

Above the right hand column is stapled two yarn samples for bye bath 1. Both samples are a dark greyish purple.

Below the right hand colum is stapled the dye samples for dye bath 2 and dye bath 3. Dye bath 2 haas 2 fabric samples and 1 yarn sample. All three are a lavender color. Dye bath 3 had 1 fabric sample and 2 yarn samples. The fabric sample is a very light lavender. The BFL tweed yarn sample is a greyish tan. The cotton yarn sample is an off white light lavender.

Dye Bath #1 – BFL Yarn – BFL Tweed Yarn

Dye Bath #2 – Linen Fabric – Cotton Fabric – Bamboo Yarn

Dye Bath #3 – Cotton Fabric – BFL Tweed Yarn – Cotton Yarn

17.15 g purple basil (garden) dried

36.3 g yarn, 2.9 g alum (8%). 4/18/2020 10:00 am – 11:00 am simmer leave sin water. 11:00 am – add alum, add yarn. 11:45 am – Add 27.4 g yarn, 2.19 g alum. 12:45 pm – turn off heat and let soak. 7:00 pm – remove, wash, dry.
77 g fiber, 6.16 alum. 7:00 pm – reheat dye bath. 7:30 pm – add alum, add fiber. 8:30 pm – turn off heat and let soak overnight, then remove, wash, and dry.
102.85 g fiber, 8.2 g alum, 3 tbsp iron water. 4/19/2020 8:45 am – reheat dye bath. 9:15 am – add alum, add fiber. 10:15 am – add iron water. 11:15 am – turn off heat and let sit. 5:30 pm – remove, wash, and dry.

Natural Dye – Indigo

From Dharma Trading Co directions for Pre-Reduced Indigo Crystals

20 g indigo crystals
50 g thiox
100 g soda ash
4 galwater

Warm water to 80-90 deg F
Stir in indigo and thiox
Dissolve soda ash in a little bit of boiling water and dd to vat
Stir in one direction, slow down, and reverse direction alongside out edge
Foam should form flower in center
Let settle – should be yellow-green
Skim flower and crust off the top and set aside
Enter sample and manipulate in water
Don’t stir up sediment
Squeeze to reduce drips
Wait 15-20 minutes before redip

An index card on a white table. There is black and orange jack o' lantern washi tape along the top edge. Handwritten on the card in black ink is the information for the indigo dye detailed on this web page.

An index card on a white table. A row of yarn and fabric samples are stapled to the card - 9 yarn samples and 3 fabric samples. These are all a medium indigo blue like found on classic blue jeans. There are two yarn samples stapled to the bottom of the card. On the left is a teal-blue BFL yarn sample. On the right is a green mohair yarn sample.

Targhee Yarn – Cotton Fabric – BFL Tweed Yarn – Linen Fabric – Raw Silk Noil Fabric – BFL Yarn – Cotton Yarn – Bamboo Yarn – Sugar Cane Yarn – Grey Mohair Yarn – White Mohair Yarn – Masham Yarn

BFL with Mullein Yarn – White Mohair with Onion Skins Yarn

Natural Dye – Woad

An index card on a white table. The information for the woad dye is handwritten in blue ink.

An index card on a white table. On the left is handwritten the continued woad notes in blue ink. On the right are 4 yarn samples stapled to the card. The BFL, BFL tweed, and mint yarns are off white slightly tinted light blue. The cotton yarn is a bright white.

Note: Late, I learned that laundresses used to use a little bit of woad or indigo on white linens and cottons to brighten whites.

BFL Yarn- BFL Tweed Yarn – Mint Yarn – Cotton Yarn

Woad cont.

Notes –

Fabric previously dyed with turmeric changed to pink, but back to yellow with washing.
Not enough pigment to overdye fabric.
Not enough pigment to overdye onion/avocado sugar cane or mullein bamboo.
Bare yarns hold some blue, but not saturated.

Woad grown in garden

Harvested and reduced per weavingwoad.com 8/24/19.

8/31/19 –

11:53 am – 2 gal cold water in bucket. Heat 1/2 gl + add. pH 6 + 3 tbsp soda ash, pH = 10

12:09 pm – 1/2 gal water add (pH10)

12:30 pm – Add 1 tsp thiox to woad stock heated

12:45 pm – Jar color change complete. Remove 1/2 water from bucket to be heated on the grill.

1:08 pm – Hot water to bucket (pH10). 1 tsp thiox.

1:23 pm – Added jar stock to bucket, wait 15 minutes.

1:54 pm – 1 tsp thiox to 2nd jar stock.

2:20 pm – Add recharge to bucket.

2:35 pm – Dye. 4 minutes – mint. 2 minutes – sugar cane. 2 minutes – cotton + linen (2nd). 2 minutes – bamboo. 2 minutes – previously dyed fabric turmeric.

Dry, wash until water runs clear, dry again.

4-5 minutes per sample. 3 previously yellow cotton + linen, 1 cotton yarn, 1 BFL tweed yarn, 1 BFL