By Maggie Howe of Prairieland Herbs
I think that indigo dyeing is one of the most economical natural dyes (aside from wildcrafted dyes, of course). I recently made an indigo dyevat and was completely amazed at how much it dyed!
Some locally produced mohair....
About 20 (!!!) skeins of millspun yarn...
A couple of silk scarves...
Some cotton quilting fabric...
Two thrift-store vintage cotton pillowcases....
....and matching king-sized vintage cotton sheet....
And about a pound of wool roving, a half-pound of llama fiber, one entire lamb fleece, some spinning silk hankies, and well over a pound of alpaca fiber!!
It was fabulous :)
It was fabulous :)
The indigo vat did weaken as the dyeing progressed, which is great -I got a huge range of shades, from
Midnight black to the palest ice blue. I also overdyed some yellow yarn and silk and roving, that was first dyed yellow (with goldenrod, Osage orange, or black eyed susans). These produced fabulous shades of green!
Midnight black to the palest ice blue. I also overdyed some yellow yarn and silk and roving, that was first dyed yellow (with goldenrod, Osage orange, or black eyed susans). These produced fabulous shades of green!
I can't wait for my next indigo vat. I'm hunting thrift stores for natural-fiber clothing, sheets and fibers to dye!
These are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteAnother Excellent article, Maggie! :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! It's good for colouring hair too ;-)
ReplyDelete