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Author: Elke
Foraging for dye plants
Summer's abundance of plants and flowers is calling! You can sniff them on a walk, gaze at them while lying in the meadow or gather and dye with them, and if you're new to picking wild plants, I'd like to give you a few points of orientation. And introduce three dye plants you might find easily.
Tools & equipment to get started with natural dyeing
We have already discussed this quite a few times in the workshops: What equipment do you really need as a beginner in natural dyeing?
Dyeing easter eggs with plants
Dyeing Easter eggs with plants can be a simple and exciting project with kids - or you something you do just by yourself (perhaps for your inner child) as I did.
Books about dyeing with plants: A few favourites
Färbe-Bücher für alle: Kreative, Botaniker*innen und Geschichts-Interessierte In meinen Workshops, gibt es nicht nur Färbetöpfe und Lernen durch Selbermachen. Ich hab auch immer viele Färbeproben zum Ansehen dabei, und Bücher über’s Färben mit Pflanzen zur Inspiration.Die Färbeworkshops sind ja noch mehr als gemeinsames Lernen und Entdecken. Ein Raum für Gemeinschaft und Austausch; das Ausprobieren ohne…
Plant dyeing 101: Choosing fibres to dye with plants
For dyeing with plants it's very helpful to not only know about dye plants, but also about the textiles you want to dye. Textiles, wovens or knitwear, surround us everyday. At the same time, we often don't know much about how they were made and their characteristics. While textiles are omnipresent, they're not a subject that's deemed important very often. Had I not happened to study fashion design, would I ever have learnt about the different fibres that clothe, warm, protect me? So if you feel like textiles are a bit of a mystery, then here is a brief overview for you!
Plant dyeing 101: What is mordanting?
"What exactly is mordanting?" Have you ever asked yourself this, perhaps while leafing through a natural dye book? If you only have a vague idea about mordanting, then you probably already know that it's "kind of important". Read more if mordants are a mystery or have even put you off dyeing with plants.
Dyeing yellow with goldenrod
From late summer onwards it can hardly be overlooked and is in full bloom: The time has come to dye beautiful yellows with goldenrod. Comparing my garden today on September 1st, 2020, with photos from previous years, it probably started to blossom earlier this year than in previous years. But it's still not too late to get your dye pots ready!
Dye plants in the summer garden
New website, new blog - to jump into the deep end, here's a short tour of the dye plants in the garden. In spring, I sent out a lot of seeds for dyer's plants and, of course, grew them myself. Instead of starting with a new workshop on the dyer's garden as planned, there were suddenly no more workshops at all with Covid -...