Dyeys, veggies and India - Flint that is ...

Recently whilst ratting about in my fabrics cupboard for something to use in a piece of jewellery I discovered that although I have some lovely 'natural' textiles (wool, silk, cotton), none of them were quite the right colour. I think it had to do with the evenness of the colour - which for commercial dyers of fabric is no doubt the aim. I decided to have a little play with dying with plant material.

Here I have boiled up some brown onion skin, allowed it to cool and then added strips of silk. They soaked in there overnight and then I rinsed and rinsed them until the water ran clear.

The result is very subtle, slightly uneven and exactly what I wanted! This fabric was a rather bold white before it went into the pot. I have since done a bit more reading on the subject, in particular India Flint's marvellous book, Eco Colour. This is a really informative book, India is a veritable fount of botanical knowledge and it is visually appetising too! Of course now I know a little more about the processes I realise that I made a number of mistakes in my own little dye run and am keen to have another go. I would really like to dye paper and print over it ....