Learn the Art of Natural Dyeing

Table of Contents

Learn the Art of Natural Dyeing
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Introduction
Tie-Dye Tips
Steps for Dyeing
Preparation of Your Fabric
Bleaching Your Goods
Tying before Dyeing
Pleating
Knotting
Sun Burst
Marbled Effect
Twisting
Preparing the Dyes
Different Types of Natural Dyes
Coloring Wool Blue
Coloring Wool Purple
Coloring Silk Green
Coloring Cotton Sky-Blue
Coloring Clothes Brown
Black Dye for Linen, Wool, and Cotton Goods
Coloring Wool Green
Coloring Silk Crimson
Dyeing Silk Pale Pink
Getting a Deep Red Color
Traditional Turmeric Dye
Using Woad to Get a Blue Tint
Dark Blue Color
Green Dye
Cinnamon Brown Color
Olive Green Color
Mordants
Alum –
Ferrous sulfate –
Stannous Chloride – tin
Chrome – Potassium Dichromate
Copper Sulfate –
Last Finishing Touches
Conclusion
Author Bio
Publisher

Introduction

Whenever members of my family have to move for official duty, all over the globe, they asked me what I want from their new posting. And my answer is always invariably, traditional textiles, and that is all I have, a really good collection of traditional textiles made locally.

Below is an excellent example of traditional dyeing, an art which has been practiced in many parts of the world, for millenniums. So this book is going to tell you all about how you can enjoy a brand-new activity, that of dyeing, as done in the East and in the West with natural products.

You can see the neck in a different color design, and the border of the shirt made up with a white traditional border design. All I have to do is press this cloth after washing it, pressing it, and then cutting it, according to my own specifications and stitching it to make an excellent tie-dye shirt.

So now let us begin with the art of dyeing, which is almost forgotten today, even though once upon a time with a great number of chemicals dyes coming into the market in the Victorian era, every single piece of cloth was dyed in really colorful, discordant, and really bright hues.

If you look at some of the clothing worn by women in the 18th and 19th century, you should not be surprised if they wore dresses made up with green, orange, vermilion, scarlet, red, pink, and any other color of their choice, all mixed together like that of a colorful parakeet.

And that was the fashion. Today, we are going to call that loud fashion sense “noisy and tasteless.” That is because it is possible that we prefer more subdued colors instead of dark and clashing colors all mixed up in rainbow hues in just one garment. But at that time, the more colorful the attire, the more that woman was considered to be fashionable.

Tie-dye traditionally happens to be the art of resistance dyeing. You can get distinctive patterns by just tying the fabric into pleats, folds, knots, and even scrunches. This is going to prevent the dye from penetrating certain areas. My mother told me that she and her younger sister were taught a particular subject, at school in England after the 2nd world war, called Domestic Science, and these types of courses were even taught at the college level.

I was looking in my aunt’s practical books, and found plenty of tie and dye patterns, which had to be made by the students, in order to pass the Degree Course.

These techniques have been around for centuries, all over the world, especially in West Africa, where it is called batik, in Asia, and in southeastern Asia. The flower children of course used to wear plenty of tie and dye clothing, in the 50s and 60s and this particular dress happened to be emblematic of the free-spirited day and age of that particular era. These clothes were accompanied with lots of beads and huge chunky jewelry.

So let us begin with tips on how to dye properly.