Wednesday, September 02, 2015

I'm Dyeing {Naturally}

Howdy Friends & Folk ~

look at this loverly little marigold…
how happy she is!



how happy am I that bunches of them are in full bloom in my gardens?
very happy :)







Taking the time and care to dead-head them helps them bush out 
and become more & more full…

I keep the dried heads for future gardens, but
I like to use them to dye my wools ~




I'll show you how I do it, easy-peasy casserole dyeing!




first ~ gather your supplies:
glass baking dish
salt
aluminum foil
and light colored or natural wools




Then then put the kettle on ~
 make sure to have enough water in it to have a cup of tea too!




while the kettle boils,
place one end of your wool in the baking dish…
then sprinkle a handful of marigold heads on the wool….




then shake some salt on top of that…




then fold the wool back over on itself…




… and repeat the process of layering the marigold heads
 & salt with the wool.



like this!




oh I hear that kettle whistling!
now pour that hot water over your layered wools/flowers/salt….
just enough to cover the wool ~




I like to smoosh {technical term} 
my wools down with a wooden spoon a bit…




now cover the baking dish with the aluminum foil.
{the vinegar will be used in the next step}




place your covered dish in a hot oven set to 350*
for about an hour….
I use a timer cause i tend to get distracted ;)

after the hour is up,
carefully take out the dish and remove the tin foil ~ 
***HOT HOT HOT***

now pour some of that white vinegar onto the still-hot wool casserole..
and let it set on the counter to cool off slowly.




{cooling}




once cooled, now pour the liquid into a strainer in your sink to catch the marigolds….




then you can rinse the wool in warm NOT HOT or COLD water….


I squeeze the liquid out a little then hang it outside to dry on the line ~




and LOOK!
there's the before wool on the right, a natural check/texture
and my naturally died wool on the left….



not sure what I'll use it for ~ if I'll hook with it or use it for appliqué?
we'll see…

I have tons of black walnuts that I need to gather too, so I'll show you how to dye with those in an upcoming post….

Have fun today my friends ~ try something new and be creative!


~ Blessings from the Farm ~
 Lori

20 comments:

Krissy B. said...

Thanks for sharing. I plant a lot of these and next year(our season is over)hopefully I'll remember to save them & try this. You are forever expanding my "try something new" files! Krissy B.

Pure and Simple Woolens said...

Thank you Lori for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Dyeing wools naturally has been on my gotta learn list for some time now. I wonder if your technique also works with Black-eyed Susans…it certainly works beautifully with your "merry golds." Thank you for the lesson, Lori! I will record it in my special book for future uses… ;)

Katken said...

Probably the same method used by the Indians & pilgrims!! Sooooo cool. Thanks for the demo!!

gracie said...

Not wanting to sound dumb, but is the dish dedicated to only dying?

The Eveningstitcher said...

Love this, Lori! so natural...and easy. I wonder if that would work with other flowers? Imagine the beautiful colors you could get!! I don't dye very often, because I make such a big mess...but this seems simple enough and the result is just lovely! Can't wait to see you post on using black walnuts..I have a ton of them!

NMK said...

I have been afraid to dye my wools , but this method looks nice & easy ! I don't have any marigolds though, will have to check my friends gardens ! If the black eyed susans would work ,,I have those ! Thank you for the great tip !!!! You are just so clever !!!!

AmyAnderson said...

Can I do this with linen too?

Dogwood Farm said...

Thank you for sharing this Lori! :)
xo

Jacqueline said...

Thanks for sharing. Marigolds will be planted next year for sure.

marly said...

Well turn me upside down and paint me blue. That's really cool! In the words of a sweet and kind soul....holy moly.

karen said...

How simple! Thank you for sharing.

kaniki's said...

Ohhh- how fun.. I wonder if the goldenrod and the other ohhhh- burnt umber weeds here would work.. What a gorgeous color mix those would be...

I have a ton of white wool- wonder if I might have any luck.... :)

Gonna have to try you know- I just LOVE the colors this time of year....

xoxo
Niki

village folk art said...

Wonderful tutorial ... Thanks for sharing...

Peace to all,
Barb

Robin Hager said...

Wow, Lori! That is gorgeous!! Is there ANYTHING that you can't do?? I'm not envious....no, not me!! Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea!

diamondc said...

Wow what a beautiful dye the marigolds did, striking contrast,
I have not dyed anything like this before but will like to do so in the future.
Thank-you for sharing with us, I look forward to seeing the walnut process.

Blessings
Catherine

jeffsrose35 said...

what a great idea, assuming you would be able to do this with cross stitch linen as well?

basketnut said...

So cool! Thanks for sharing Lori....now i wish I had some marigolds to try this out on....Hopefully you will find something to do with your new treasure! Tammy

Unknown said...

That's a great result - I didn't expect it to be so strong in color. Please show us what you do with your black walnuts! We have several of those huge trees on our property. I'd love some ideas for what to do with all the nuts instead of letting them go to waste. Even the squirrels here don't seem interested in them!

PineNeedlePrimitives said...

Hi Lori, thank you for the lovely "how to" dye with flowers. How much salt do you sprinkle on each layer and in the end how much vinegar do you pour over? I would like to try this but I have limited light colored wool and don't want to mess things up. I have purchased from your etsy site. I wish I could come to your fall open house, I live in Minnesota.
Can you email me your responses? It is nj_upnorth@yahoo.com
Thanks Nancy