One of the things I love about natural dyeing is the connection to ancient skills and knowledge – making colour with natural dyes is an age-old process, until the mid 1800s all colours on yarn and fabric came from natural sources.

Many factors influence the colours derived from natural dyeing.  From one dye bath to the next results will vary, even from the same part of the same plant – soil, age, time of year and weather conditions all play a role in the outcome – so that each batch of yarn, and even each skein, will be completely unique*.

Natural dyeing is a slow process with many steps. The first is to thoroughly scour the yarn to remove any remaining dirt and spinning oils. I’ll scour several skeins at a time by bringing them up to 70-80 degrees for an hour or so in tap water with a little pH netural dishwashing soap. Then, if the yarn is to be dyed with indigo or a dye material which is ‘substantive’ (i.e. a dye that is applied directly without a mordant) the skeins are now ready to be dyed. Often though, the next step is to mordant the skeins (usually with a naturally occuring salt known as ‘alum’ or potassium aluminium sulphate dodecahydrate) which helps fix the dye to the fibre, and increases light and wash fastness.

I like to collect as much dye material locally as I can and this includes nettle, tansy, meadowsweet, bramble leaves, heather tops, fallen tree lichen and alder cones. Unfortunately I can’t achieve a full colour range with locally collected material and so I also buy natural dyes from respected sources. The exact dye process varies dependent on the dye material but usually involves heat and then soaking for several hours. Often I’ll overdye to create more complex shades or add more than one dye material at a time.

It is a slow and intensive process but so worthwhile. I hope you will enjoy the beautiful natural colours as much as I do.

*However if you have a special larger project planned I can dye to order to create a larger amount in a particular colour. Please contact me if you have any special dyeing requests and we can work out a custom order.

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