How to Make Natural Dyes

By Rebecca Burgess
Published on June 20, 2013
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Make beautiful natural dyes from plants with the help of “Harvesting Color.”
Make beautiful natural dyes from plants with the help of “Harvesting Color.”
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Start the dye making early to ensure that the strongest sunlight of the day will be captured.
Start the dye making early to ensure that the strongest sunlight of the day will be captured.
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The solar oven always cooks the flowers and fiber within one day.
The solar oven always cooks the flowers and fiber within one day.
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Leaving the fibers in overnight or over a period of two days will strengthen the color.
Leaving the fibers in overnight or over a period of two days will strengthen the color.

Harvesting Color (Artisan Books, 2011) is the essential guide to natural dyeing and creating gorgeous color from plants. Author and master dyer Rebecca Burgess presents over thirty plants which yield stunning natural shades and illustrates just how easy the dyes are to make. In this excerpt taken from part one, “Getting Started,” learn how to make natural dyes.

You can purchase this book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: Harvesting Color.

Summer Dye Starter

This is a wonderful activity for children and parents to do together — a blend of art, science, and the garden. However, if you do not have a garden, bouquets of coreopsis can often be purchased at a farmers’ market and enjoyed for several days in the home before being used for dye. Just before the foliage wilts, the flowers can be cut and placed in your dye jar.

I recommend the use of tickseed coreopsis because varieties of this plant are native to most regions of the United States, and while you may not find the variety that is endemic to your region, the commonly sold cultivar that you purchase at your local nursery will make a perfect dye. If you would like to plant a native variety, I recommend you seek out a seed purveyor in your area. Growing the local seed variety has its benefits — these plants thrive in the garden without the need for extensive attention.

How to Make Natural Dyes

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