Natural Plant Dyeing

a
J c7 J-
II 1
-i, -.
i-!b
RESTORATIONS, ..SHAWLS I WI ~
T 17th century Philipsburg, Upper
A, Mills, in North .TarrS;town, Nef -’
York and at Van Cortlandt Manor in
. nearby C&on-on-Hudson, authenticity is
.
*
the ‘name of the game. When Sleepy
Hollow’ Restorations wanted a a dozen
shawls t*o complem&t costumes worm by
hostesses at these historic landmarks,
handspun yarns had to be dyed with
c natural dyes.
Sample cards of colors possible in Colonial
times were contributed by members
“of the Handweavers Guild of WestchesJ
: ter, whose interest’ in plant dyeing ‘had
originally been stimulated by the Brooklyn
Botanic Garden’s workshops. Matching
the selected shades was the challenge,
and the following procedures relate to
this task. With few exceptions the recipes
used are given ,in B.B.G. Handbook
46.
No.
For mordanting and dyeing the 3
pounds of woql needed for each shawl, an
ll-gallon enamel clam-steamer pot was
employed. The first sample attempted had
been dyed with wilted lilacs. After mordanting
with alum and cream of tartar,
the yarn was simmered for abaut two
.. hours with as many lilac.blossoms as the
dyepot would accommodate. .
P 77 * I
An akenture
!i.
jn match’ing*colors
., 1,
I
==L
/_
Sylvia Thorne ,
To test for a match, the sample was
wetted. Then a few. strands of the newly.
dyed yarn were squeezed between paper
towels and both examined together in
good daylight. After all dyestuff had been
abstracted the resulting yellow still lacked
substance. The addition of a “very small
duced an entirely different yellow. Flow-
ers held in a,.freezer from’ thk previous
!summer were boiled until the liquor be-
/’ 1 a dark bronze and then strained out
re the .wool was immersed.? When the
developed the yarn
to become ‘fig1 in the dye I
duplicating a sample origi- ’
saffron proved prohibisubstitute
was found in ,the recipe
of Brooklyn Handbook -. y
with smartweed (Polyr D
A bushel-, of ‘this