Natural Plant Dyeing

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‘NATURAL QYEING =- ’ ,’
IN THE CLASSROOM -- - -. ‘-
Advice -f or~*indi&lual Begintiers, too-’
M-ollie -Harker Rodriguez
ACH T&E the ‘Brooklyn Botanic In autumn, berries, roots and usiall)
Garden offers a course in dyeing some leaves are availab!e. (See page 7).
with plaht materials, among the stu’dents *The time of collect&n will alter the
are a few instruc@s in elementary or colors produced, as ~-31. the location, of
secondary %ools who have come td learn the plant _Ll relation to’ sunlight, rain, :,
a new craft to use in their own class- wind, soil and seasonal weather condi- =,
rooms. Their interest and inquiries,’ cou- tigns. 911 of these factors contribute to
pled wit5 the Garden’s desire to hel; ,the .tGe chpracter of the plglt and therefore to ’
individual beginru>r in t!lis tield, have A the coJ~rs achieved in dyeing. Each time
prompted us to share our experience with . yet; dye wit\1 vcgtitable -tliuterinls it ‘is an
readers. t csperiri$it because *every, ,collection of \
I)ytlin: .l>litIltS is x11 i!ltl:ipuing rrnft. plants. iS> tiniqnc. Repeatcd use 05 the
Ili5tl~ric*:~lli” lll:~llt5 ‘XPIY the Ilt:iin same dye uff will prove how varied the
’ source for tlir produc~tiol1 ;~nd m:4iuf$c- -resulls caA/ e.
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tllW Of :111 ktlf? tlyC5 IlSPd to color fill&J:iCS ’ -’
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UIllil tlir rllitl(lltl of the 19th century. Wool 3
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Totlay :I ,gf:owing IlLllllbr~~ of people ilIT
Most natural’ dyes yield more brrl’liant
~tItll~;c.I,\.tAI:ill~-tltis art :tli(l ilre allsious to
2nd lasting colors if used with*wool. Wool
i1))/'1! it to f:lhr’ics ;LS :1 Substitute-for the
is mind tissue and ‘!lue to-tlie substazrces
:trliltIkv (I>.(>.- wtlic*lk :II‘(’ now ~01111110111~
in its cell w’~lls, the molecules of the mar- 9 ’
114.
There are IIKXI~ possibilities here to
dants and dyes are bound rhore easily to
stimulate the plinds -of young people. For
it than- to the celluloid constitu&ts sf .
children, it is learning how to use plants
plant fibers. However, to make compariin
the same ways as did their ancestors:
sons you might add to the dyebath a small ’
Experiments in dyeing might accompany
~picre of cotton sheet or jersey along with r. ’
work in history or social studies courses,
the yarn.
Or comple&ent aIf art course, especially if I. For classroom use, 2-ply ‘yain is very a
jhere is a field trip scheduled to a museum satisfnctory because it,.dyes quickly and
exhibiting tapestries or weavings. Aqoth- is easy to handle. If possible, natural ,m- ’ a
er approach is to include dyei’ng methods bleached wool should be used but bleached
! as part of a study of the economic uses of wool can be substiMed if it is ,more readplants.
3 ily available. The yarn should be tied in$o
skeins with white cotton twipe for mati-
__ Co!lecting the Plants 2 ageabili_ty in the dyepbt, as shown on u
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Collecting the plant tnatertal is done
when the pari-icular type of plant desired
for use ii “ready,” that is! when mosi of
the dye-producin g substances are concenpage
12 of Handbook 012 Dye Plants and
TIl/e;)lq. Wash the wool in several solutions
of mild ,soapy warm water and rinse
it wrll hrfore dyeing. Y
trated in the part you want to collect. Work with small quantities of wool ‘ai’
’ Barks and young shoots can be gathered such as l/Z oz. dry -height skeins. They - :
in early spring. Throughout spring and, req,tii& a minimum of plant material and
‘summer there will’be leaves and fl0weS-s to only a.‘qunrt or so 6f dyebath solution. .*
use fresh or to cut and de for later use. Good corog“samples. can be obtained-with
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