7 Dark Roses - Free Audio ebooks

Crafty Crafts

Charlie Rainbow Wolf

In the northern hemisphere, we’re well into spring by the time Ostara comes knocking. The shops are full of images of Mother Earth awakening, from baby chicks to spring flowers. It’s a time when eggs are represented in chocolates and jelly beans, and of course, egg dye!

There are many theories as to why we dye eggs. When I was growing up in Indiana, my Sunday school teacher taught us eggs were first dyed red to symbolize the blood of the crucified Christ. My English husband says he remembers learning something about King Edward I coloring eggs to give as gifts. Colored eggs seem to have played a role in many cultures throughout history.

Dyeing Fabric

It’s easy enough to make the jump from dyeing eggs to dyeing fabric. It’s possible to use commercial dyes but much more fun to scavenge natural items and see what colors they produce. If you spun wool at Imbolc, you might even want to dye that for Ostara!

Materials

Fabric: This needs to be a natural fabric like wool or cotton, otherwise the dye might not take. If you are new to dyeing, I recommend a white, 100 percent cotton fabric. Consider sackcloth tea towels; they take the dye well, they’re fairly inexpensive, and they’re easily available online or in stores.

Mordant: This is a fixative for the dye and influences the final hue of the color. Common mordants are alum, iron, tannin, and even table salt.

Dyestuffs: I’m focusing on what can be gathered naturally rather than store-bought colors. Onion skins and rhubarb leaves are among my favorites. Experiment with this and have some fun; I’ve made suggestions below.

Dyebath: This is a big stockpot for the mordant and dye. An iron pot will add its own mordant. It’s a good idea not to use the same pot for food preparation.

Cheesecloth or other strainer: Nut milk bags are suitable and easy to use—and reuse. They’re available from farm stores, home canning suppliers, and online retailers.

Rubber gloves: You don’t want to dye your hands!

Distilled water (optional): Regular tap water will do unless you want to be very precise about the final color. The chemicals in tap water might influence the outcome.

Candy thermometer (optional): This will come in handy for measuring the temperature of the dyebath.

Cost: Again, this is hard to estimate, as an absolute fortune could be spent on a new stockpot and fabrics and mordants, or you could scavenge what you have and do this at little or no cost. If items are purchased, consider looking for 100% cotton sheets or even white cotton shirts from a local charity shop. Sometimes old stew pots or stockpots can be found there too. A new stockpot could cost $30 or more. Sackcloth towels average less than $3 each (cheaper if a bundle is purchased), and simple mordants such as alum or salt are in the region of $10 or less a pound. The nut milk bags are $5 or so—if one isn’t available, use an old nylon stocking! If a candy thermometer is desired, they can be obtained for under $10. Work within your budget; there are few hard and fast rules.

Time spent: One hour to mordant the fabric and another hour to dye it. These do not have to be consecutive.

The Mordant

The dye process is quite simple and consists of two parts: mordanting the fabric and dyeing it. Mordanting the fabric can be done quite quickly—when I lived on the farm, I used the hot cycle of my old twin tub washing machine. The general rule of thumb is to use 100 g of mordant to 500 g of fabric—a 20 percent ratio.

Fill the dye pot ½–⅔ full of water. Dissolve the mordant into the water and gradually heat it to hand hot—somewhere near 120°F if a thermometer is used. Slowly immerse the fabric, and let it steep in the hot liquid for 45 minutes, keeping the heat constant. Give it the occasional gentle stir. The mordant bath can be reused for several different pieces.

Remove the material from the mordant and allow it to cool. Keep it damp; if it isn’t going to be dyed immediately, put it in a ziplock freezer bag and store it in the refrigerator or other cool container. It should keep for 5–7 days.

The Dyebath

This is the exciting bit, where you get to add the colors. I’ve listed some of the items I’ve used when dyeing cotton and the colors they produce. They’re common household items, and if one isn’t available, then choose another—be daring and experiment!

Yellow: celery leaves, rhubarb leaves, Queen Anne’s lace roots

Orange: carrots, onion skins

Green: mint leaves, grass, nettles

Blue: elderberries, red cabbage

Purple: pokeweed, basil leaves

Brown: dandelion roots, walnut hulls, tea, coffee

There’s no hard and fast rule to the amount of dyestuffs to use per dyebath. The higher the quantity of dyestuffs, the deeper the color of the dye. Use whatever is around; it might be helpful to keep a record of what works and what doesn’t for future reference.

Bring the dyestuffs to a slow boil then let them simmer for at least half an hour. When the dye is a good color, carefully strain it. An alternative to this is to tie the dye materials into cheesecloth or a straining bag or even an old nylon stocking before boiling, but I find more color is released if the straining is done afterward.

Once the strained dye is back in the pot, heat it to just simmering (around 185°F) and slowly add the material to be dyed. Keep it simmering gently for 30–45 minutes, stirring it occasionally to help it color evenly. Turn off the heat and let it cool naturally in the dye, again stirring occasionally.

When the dyebath is cool, put on the rubber gloves and remove the material from the liquid. The dye can be reused a few times, but it is likely to give paler results each time. I’ve seen spinners do this so their wool knits up in an ombre. Rinse to remove any excess dye, and when the water runs clear, hang the material up to dry.

Dyeing is as complicated or easy as you make it. Another fun way of dyeing is to put the mordanted fabric and the dyestuffs in a large canning jar and set it in the hot sun for several days. This is a fun activity to do with the kids—and it teaches patience!