This sounds so rewarding that I've half a mind to push other projects and duties to the back of the sink and sink myself into pressuring the colors of flowers on dishtowels to use in winter. It is very tempting, and I've never given a moment's thought to doing this before.
This is so inspiring - I've just moved to a new house with a meadow full of goldenrod, and I just happen to be growing sulphur cosmos too! So glad I came across your post, I'll have to get my hands on some alum now... thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Diana! How exciting! Those are very much two of my favorite colors - they just really hold summer sunshine for me :) I hope you have so much fun!
Thanks for this simple how-to. I have tried doing this a few times but the results were disappointing. Maybe I will try it again using your instructions.
I think before I didn't use enough alum. I am re mordanting my fabric with 1 tbsp and then I will try sunflowers because we have so many here! Thanks for the inspiration!
It worked! It's kind of a light yellow green. I wanted to put a picture here but I can't figure out how to do that! The color is kind of uneven - but I like it. I just wondered if that was because I put in a whole length of muslin and maybe smaller pieces would dye more evenly? I am going to try pokeberry next.
That is so cool, Dawn! Unfortunately, Substack still doesn't support sharing images in comments - but you can post it to Notes and tag me, if you like! I'd be excited to see it :)
I've sometimes experienced unevenness as well, and some dyes seem to do it more than others. One thing that can help is to stir the fabric around in the dye periodically as it soaks, and working smaller pieces would probably smooth things out as well. Or, as you say, just appreciate the natural variation! I'd love to hear how pokeberry turns out, as well :) 💕
I loved this post! I love the idea of bringing bits of the local summer season inside to enjoy all year long! I also am fascinated with how he fading colors on the textiles give a wabi-sabi vibe that have their own beauty and are eventually renewed with a new harvest of wild flowers. The whole process feels very poetic! Plus, your photos are wonder-inducing as always, Sydney!
Thank you so much, Jason! That's such an apt connection to the wabi-sabi concept, that ebb and flow of beauty that rises and fades and is refreshed. You're right, it continues to grow more poetic the more I think about it :)
🤣 The homestead runneth over! It's so true, but if you do ever try it out, I hope it's just purely fun and relaxing, like a childhood arts-and-crafts day :)
This is brilliant, Sidney! I have read so many articles about natural dying and even watched videos... Somehow, at some point it always gets too complicated and I give up. Your post describes the process in clear steps, using the simplest materials -- perfect for a beginner like me. I was surrounded by goldenrod this Summer; I dry it for tea but I really wanted to use it for dying just didn't know how... Now I do! :) A bit late for this year, here they have faded already, but for sure next Summer I will give it a try.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Also, I can't believe I wasn't subscribed to Nature moments since I read your letters weekly - so, that's fixed now 😁
Thank you, Sara, I am so glad to have shared this with you! I've had so much fun with my small efforts at dying, and hope you will too! I've never thought of collecting goldenrod for tea - do you just trim the blossoms?
🤣Funny how that happens sometimes, so glad to have you on the email list!
Both the flowers and the leaves can be used in tea (and eaten, actually). The flowers make a beautiful yellow (obviously 😁) tea that's good for colds and against inflammation in general. I use mostly the leaves (with some flowers) which are great for clearing the urinary tract in general and the kidneys in particular (my husband suffers from kidney stones). This is what I know, though there is probably more to goldenrod, as it is the case with most plants.
Sara, I tried some goldenrod tea yesterday! I was passing by some in bloom, and I was like "if I don't do this right now, I won't get around to it this year" 🤣
I snipped a head of blossoms and a few leaves and brewed a pot of tea with it, and it was delicious. It reminds me of dandelion blossom tea. Thanks so much for introducing us to another yummy (and beneficial) treat that just grows wild in our yard! 💕
Hi, Naomi, great question! I've never dyed linen, but I do think it would require scouring - as a plant fiber, it still has that waxy-cellulose characteristic.
But I've also read that linen accepts dye more readily than cotton. My suspicion is that, since flax goes through several more processing steps than cotton in order to make thread, maybe the fibers are already a bit more "scoured" to begin with. Best of luck!
Such wonderful knowledge, Sydney! Perhaps others here have this same feeling: connection with women from very long ago. When these processes were the only way to color fabric. Many wore undyed garments due to costs?! I like the sense of garments dyed with natural colors being within reach for many more folks today. Again, thanks Sydney, for all you do and share.
Thank you, Gary! Such a great point - I appreciate many things about modern advancements & technologies, and yet I find there's so much to learn and appreciate about traditional practices, too! We lose a lot by turning our backs on the past in a rush into the future.
Absolutely amazing, Sydney! Such beautiful colours - and it's so kind of you to share the process!
Mum's a textile artist, and always had pots and pans bubbling away. We'd save onion skins, she'd grow indigo, we'd harvest oak leaves - all kinds of things! And it was a hard and fast rule that we were never to taste anything - whether it was something in a pot cooling next to the stove, or a pile of funny-looking crystals waiting to be used for mordant and would almost certainly poison us!
Thanks so much, Rebecca! Ah yes, the dangers of overlapping your kitchen with your chemistry lab are all too familiar in this house, too!🤣 What a wonderful way to grow up, though, such happy memories, thank you for sharing them 💕
Oh this is such a cool idea! Thank you, Sydney! I'm assuming all flowers create some color of dye., right? I live in the mountains of Colorado, so the flowers here are different than the ones you listed as examples, but I'd love to experiment.
Thank you, Sarah! Flowers are so interesting, in that the results can vary so much from appearances, and things like the particular pigment's response to heat or pH can create a lot of variability. Experimenting is definitely the way to go - I'd be so happy to hear what you discover!
I'm so happy to hear that, Diana! Good question, I haven't personally found a green dye with staying power. Among my local blossoms, violet-dyed fabric transitioned from violet to blue to green due to pH changes, very pretty, but very fleeting. I usually do a little internet search to see what I can experiment with from my local area - for green, I saw chamomile leaves, elderberry leaves, and onion skins (which I thought was odd, because I was sure they produced yellow🤷🏼♀️). Let me know if you find something!
Oooh! Lovely. One of the favorite parts of my trip to Mexico was a visit to the weavers of Teotitlán del Valle, watching them dye wool with natural dyes, generating a lovely spectrum of hues using simple acids, bases and mordants.
This sounds so rewarding that I've half a mind to push other projects and duties to the back of the sink and sink myself into pressuring the colors of flowers on dishtowels to use in winter. It is very tempting, and I've never given a moment's thought to doing this before.
Thanks so much, Diane! This sounds like a fun and beautiful project - let me know how it goes! 💕
Love that first pic of all the different coloured fabrics - so beautiful and inviting.
Thank you so much, Lindsay!
This is so inspiring - I've just moved to a new house with a meadow full of goldenrod, and I just happen to be growing sulphur cosmos too! So glad I came across your post, I'll have to get my hands on some alum now... thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Diana! How exciting! Those are very much two of my favorite colors - they just really hold summer sunshine for me :) I hope you have so much fun!
Thanks for this simple how-to. I have tried doing this a few times but the results were disappointing. Maybe I will try it again using your instructions.
Thank you so much, Dawn! I hope it works for you - let me know if you run into frustration, maybe we can figure out what's going on :)
I think before I didn't use enough alum. I am re mordanting my fabric with 1 tbsp and then I will try sunflowers because we have so many here! Thanks for the inspiration!
That sounds perfect, good luck!🤞🏼🌻
It worked! It's kind of a light yellow green. I wanted to put a picture here but I can't figure out how to do that! The color is kind of uneven - but I like it. I just wondered if that was because I put in a whole length of muslin and maybe smaller pieces would dye more evenly? I am going to try pokeberry next.
That is so cool, Dawn! Unfortunately, Substack still doesn't support sharing images in comments - but you can post it to Notes and tag me, if you like! I'd be excited to see it :)
I've sometimes experienced unevenness as well, and some dyes seem to do it more than others. One thing that can help is to stir the fabric around in the dye periodically as it soaks, and working smaller pieces would probably smooth things out as well. Or, as you say, just appreciate the natural variation! I'd love to hear how pokeberry turns out, as well :) 💕
I loved this post! I love the idea of bringing bits of the local summer season inside to enjoy all year long! I also am fascinated with how he fading colors on the textiles give a wabi-sabi vibe that have their own beauty and are eventually renewed with a new harvest of wild flowers. The whole process feels very poetic! Plus, your photos are wonder-inducing as always, Sydney!
Thank you so much, Jason! That's such an apt connection to the wabi-sabi concept, that ebb and flow of beauty that rises and fades and is refreshed. You're right, it continues to grow more poetic the more I think about it :)
My homestead does not need another thing "I can do," but maybe I should go harvest some of the golden rod and mammoth sunflower seeds. 🌻
🤣 The homestead runneth over! It's so true, but if you do ever try it out, I hope it's just purely fun and relaxing, like a childhood arts-and-crafts day :)
Ahhh, arts and crafts day!
Gorgeous color descriptions! They sound amazing
Thanks so much, Shawn!
This is brilliant, Sidney! I have read so many articles about natural dying and even watched videos... Somehow, at some point it always gets too complicated and I give up. Your post describes the process in clear steps, using the simplest materials -- perfect for a beginner like me. I was surrounded by goldenrod this Summer; I dry it for tea but I really wanted to use it for dying just didn't know how... Now I do! :) A bit late for this year, here they have faded already, but for sure next Summer I will give it a try.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Also, I can't believe I wasn't subscribed to Nature moments since I read your letters weekly - so, that's fixed now 😁
Thank you, Sara, I am so glad to have shared this with you! I've had so much fun with my small efforts at dying, and hope you will too! I've never thought of collecting goldenrod for tea - do you just trim the blossoms?
🤣Funny how that happens sometimes, so glad to have you on the email list!
Both the flowers and the leaves can be used in tea (and eaten, actually). The flowers make a beautiful yellow (obviously 😁) tea that's good for colds and against inflammation in general. I use mostly the leaves (with some flowers) which are great for clearing the urinary tract in general and the kidneys in particular (my husband suffers from kidney stones). This is what I know, though there is probably more to goldenrod, as it is the case with most plants.
Let me know if you try the tea!
Sara, I tried some goldenrod tea yesterday! I was passing by some in bloom, and I was like "if I don't do this right now, I won't get around to it this year" 🤣
I snipped a head of blossoms and a few leaves and brewed a pot of tea with it, and it was delicious. It reminds me of dandelion blossom tea. Thanks so much for introducing us to another yummy (and beneficial) treat that just grows wild in our yard! 💕
Hi, Sydney! Wonderful, it makes me happy to know that ☺️. Always happy to spread plant love 🌱🤎
That is so fascinating, thank you for sharing - I sure will!💕
This post is an absolute keeper! Love what Diane Porter below is thinking about, too! Let the fun begin!
Thanks so much, Sandy!💕
Which category does linen fall in? Do you find you need to scour linen?
Hi, Naomi, great question! I've never dyed linen, but I do think it would require scouring - as a plant fiber, it still has that waxy-cellulose characteristic.
But I've also read that linen accepts dye more readily than cotton. My suspicion is that, since flax goes through several more processing steps than cotton in order to make thread, maybe the fibers are already a bit more "scoured" to begin with. Best of luck!
Such wonderful knowledge, Sydney! Perhaps others here have this same feeling: connection with women from very long ago. When these processes were the only way to color fabric. Many wore undyed garments due to costs?! I like the sense of garments dyed with natural colors being within reach for many more folks today. Again, thanks Sydney, for all you do and share.
Thank you, Gary! Such a great point - I appreciate many things about modern advancements & technologies, and yet I find there's so much to learn and appreciate about traditional practices, too! We lose a lot by turning our backs on the past in a rush into the future.
Absolutely amazing, Sydney! Such beautiful colours - and it's so kind of you to share the process!
Mum's a textile artist, and always had pots and pans bubbling away. We'd save onion skins, she'd grow indigo, we'd harvest oak leaves - all kinds of things! And it was a hard and fast rule that we were never to taste anything - whether it was something in a pot cooling next to the stove, or a pile of funny-looking crystals waiting to be used for mordant and would almost certainly poison us!
Thanks so much, Rebecca! Ah yes, the dangers of overlapping your kitchen with your chemistry lab are all too familiar in this house, too!🤣 What a wonderful way to grow up, though, such happy memories, thank you for sharing them 💕
Oh this is such a cool idea! Thank you, Sydney! I'm assuming all flowers create some color of dye., right? I live in the mountains of Colorado, so the flowers here are different than the ones you listed as examples, but I'd love to experiment.
Thank you, Sarah! Flowers are so interesting, in that the results can vary so much from appearances, and things like the particular pigment's response to heat or pH can create a lot of variability. Experimenting is definitely the way to go - I'd be so happy to hear what you discover!
Hey, thanks, Sydney! I'm going to give this a try. Any suggestions for green?
I'm so happy to hear that, Diana! Good question, I haven't personally found a green dye with staying power. Among my local blossoms, violet-dyed fabric transitioned from violet to blue to green due to pH changes, very pretty, but very fleeting. I usually do a little internet search to see what I can experiment with from my local area - for green, I saw chamomile leaves, elderberry leaves, and onion skins (which I thought was odd, because I was sure they produced yellow🤷🏼♀️). Let me know if you find something!
Oooh! Lovely. One of the favorite parts of my trip to Mexico was a visit to the weavers of Teotitlán del Valle, watching them dye wool with natural dyes, generating a lovely spectrum of hues using simple acids, bases and mordants.
Thank you, Ahalya! That traditional wisdom is so beautiful to witness, so frequently overlooked, so enriching to reconnect with :)
Magical! 😃💐
Thank you, Beth!