Plant Dyeing at Achmelvich
At the end of June, the Field Club was delighted to have Jorine Van Delft host a natural dyeing workshop at her house in Achmelvich. Jorine aimed to give us an introduction to the dyeing process, and to encourage some of us to try it at home.
The art of dyeing cloth with pigments derived from plants is an ancient one, and evidence of this can be found as far back as the Neolithic. We are all familiar with plants being used medicinally, but perhaps the idea that plants can be used for dyeing fabric is not so well known. Traditionally, though, many gardens would have had plants that served the dual purpose of providing food and dyes. For example, onion skins easily give a range of browns, and hollyhocks a range of dark reds.
First, gather your dyestuff
So, to start with, a group of us set off to gather some plant material that might be suitable for dyeing. Many factors influence the colour achieved. The pH and temperature of water, fabric and, importantly, the time of year, all play a part. Usually, the best colours are obtained when the plant material is youngest, or just starting to flower. Some plants benefit from soaking overnight before heat is used to extract the colour. Being short of time, we collected those plants that we hoped would give quick results – silverweed (pic 1) and ragwort. Other suitable plants like yarrow, clover and meadowsweet were taken as backup. Just a few samples were taken from each plant. But colour is not restricted to flowers and leaves. Lady’s Bedstraw, for example, is noted for the red dye obtained from its roots. However the roots are tiny and huge quantities would be needed to produce any significant quantity of dye. Flag iris root was traditionally used to produce a black dye used for inks.
Next, prepare your dye-bath
Once back at the house, we heated some water, and threw in the collected leaves from the silverweed and ragwort. Almost instantly, we could see the water changing colour. Jorine had prepared some yarn for dyeing by soaking in an alum bath. This is called mordanting. It prepares the yarn for soaking up colour and prevents leaching afterwards. Once we were happy with the colour of the dye bath, the leaves were removed and the yarn added (pic 2). The silverweed yielded a pale yellow (pic 3), ragwort a brighter, more golden yellow. Once we were happy with the colour, the yarn was removed. Adding more yarn will result in progressively paler colours, as the concentration of dye reduces (pics 4 & 5). We also learned that different yarns take up colour differently. Superwash yarn resulted in a deeper colour than non-superwash in the same dye-bath (pic 6)
Then, experiment!
So far, so good. But what happens if you change things? We learned that adding iron to the dyebath added a green colour to the yarn (pic 7). It is possible to overdye too. And here we went a bit off-piste, as neither of the dyes used for overdyeing are native to Assynt. Logwood is a root found in the West Indies and South America and prized for its purple colour. Cochineal is obtained from a scale insect which feeds on the prickly pear cactus and gives a deep red. Traditionally, as these colours were imported, and therefore expensive, they were used to show wealth – think of the association with royalty. We used these dyes to expand our colour range for the day, with a variety of purples, mauves and oranges (pic 8).
Find out more
We had a really informative and enjoyable day. It’s easy to get colour from some of the plants commonly found in Assynt and beyond. Enjoy experimenting – you may get colours that surprise you, and you will find that they all seem to go together. Pic 9 is from a book of my dyeing experiments, and shows the range of colour you can get just by experimenting with a little knowledge.
If you would like to learn more, Jorine plans to run more courses this year (follow her Instagram feed to keep up to date). Jenny Dean’s ‘Wild Color’ is a great source of practical information. Gregory J Kenicer in his beautifully illustrated book ‘Scottish Plant Lore’ gives more information on the dyes, other uses and folklore associated with Scottish plants.
Charlie Leeson
All pics – Charlie Leeson