All Blog Posts — Natural Dyeing

NATURALLY DYEING WITH DYER’S COREOPSIS (Coreopsis tinctoria)

August 26, 2023 • Claudia Gosse • All Blog Posts • Natural Dyeing • Sustainable Textiles

Coreopsis tinctoria is one of over 75 species in the family Asteraceae. Originally native to the prairies of North America it is now cultivated world-wide and comes in a range of yellows and reds or, like Coreopsis tinctoria, yellow with red centres. As the word ‘tinctoria’ indicates this is a recognised dye plant and although historical reference to it is limited, it is known to have been used as a source of natural dye by the plains tribes of North America. It’s also thought to have been used by the early civilisations of Central and South America. Sometimes called ‘tickseed’, a reference to its insect-like seeds, the plant was reportedly used in bedding to ward off bedbugs.

NATURAL DYEING WITH COMFREY (Symphytum officinale)

July 31, 2023 • Claudia Gosse • All Blog Posts • Natural Dyeing • Sustainable Textiles

Comfrey leaves can be foraged for dyeing throughout the summer, and I didn’t have to go far to gather a basketful. I wanted enough leaves to dye my fibres at 200% WOF (weight of fibre). So as I planned to dye 100g of fibres I needed 200g of comfrey leaves, which I then left outside for a couple of hours to give the insect life a chance to depart.

NATURAL DYEING WITH STINGING NETTLES (Urtica dioica)

June 29, 2023 • Claudia Gosse • All Blog Posts • Natural Dyeing • Sustainable Textiles

My interest in nettles is, of course, as a dye plant and I was interested to learn that during World War II children were encouraged to collect nettles for the production of a dark green dye for camouflage material.

You can forage for nettles throughout the summer, but it’s preferable to gather them in the spring when they are still fresh and bright green. These nettles were gathered in early June when some were beginning to flower.

NATURAL DYEING WITH SAFFLOWERS

May 28, 2023 • Claudia Gosse • All Blog Posts • Natural Dyeing • Sustainable Textiles

Dyeing with safflowers has always been a bit of a mystery to me, but when I was given a bunch last summer I had to give them a try. Knowing their reputation for being more ‘fugitive’ than ‘fast’ I wasn’t over hopeful but, I thought, there must be a reason why people have been naturally dyeing with safflower petals for millenia.

NATURAL DYEING WITH DANDELIONS

April 24, 2023 • Claudia Gosse • All Blog Posts • Natural Dyeing • Sustainable Textiles

It would be hard not to notice that the dandelion season is here! Although they flower throughout the summer, spring is when they burst forth in profusion. The dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a perennial plant that grows widely across temperate zones. As anyone trying to keep them out of their garden will know, they are hard to thwart, each of their fluffy white ‘dandelion clock’ heads containing over a hundred seeds that drift away on a breeze. The name ‘dandelion’ comes from the French ‘dent de lion’, lion’s teeth, and the plant has a fossil record going back to the...

NATURALLY DYEING WITH DYER’S COREOPSIS (Coreopsis tinctoria)

NATURAL DYEING WITH COMFREY (Symphytum officinale)

NATURAL DYEING WITH STINGING NETTLES (Urtica dioica)

NATURAL DYEING WITH SAFFLOWERS

NATURAL DYEING WITH DANDELIONS

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