The production and storage of natural dyes
When I began to use natural dyes I began with the preparation of the fabrics. I used the mordant Alum and for cotton I used natural tannins, one was the leaves of a Rhus Typhina and the other was the extract of Gallnut. I also did some work with Aluminium Acetate which is a mordant for cotton that negates the need for Tannin.
My early dyes were made from plants in my garden (Prunus tree, Brambles, Ivy, Nettles) and as I became more confident I started to purchase stronger colours of Brazilwood and Logwood. I also dyed fabrics using Woad which is a long process of soaking and oxidising the fabric and requiring chemical assistance of Sodium Dithionite.
Once I became confident with the dying process I began to experiment with the combining of natural and chemical dyes as well as incorporating screen printed images. I also experimented with ways of producing screen pastes using natural dyes and also the use of lemon juice as a discharge fluid.
Through this experimentation I was able to come up with several methods of images that change over time and creating beautiful contrasting colours.
Sample 1
Silk and cotton mix dyed with Acid Lemon Procion MX dye and Brazilwood natural dye and then screen printed with a paste containing a mix of Brilliant Orange Procion MX and Logwood natural dye. The image to the right is the result once the natural dyes have washed out.
Sample 2
Silk dyed with a mix of Raspberry Procion MX and Weld natural dye and then screen printed with a paste containing a mix of Acid Lemon Procion MX and Brazilwood natural dye. The image to the right is the result once the natural dyes have washed out.
Sample 3
Silk dyed with a mix of Brilliant Orange Procion MX with Logwood and Brazilwood natural dye and then screen printed with Dark Brown Procion MX paste. The image to the right is the result once the natural dyes have washed out.
Sample 4
Silk dyed with a mix of Magenta Acid dye with a mix of Logwood and Brazilwood natural dyes and the screen printed with Deep Purple Procion MX paste. The image to the right is the result once the natural dyes have washed out.
Sample 5
These display the use of lemon discharge, lemon juice removes the natural dyes without affecting chemical dyes. The image to the left is silk dyed with Brilliant Orange Procion MX and Logwood natural dye. This was silk screened using lemon discharge paste which removed the Logwood dye to show the underlying orange colour.
The image to the right was silk screened using a paste containing both Brilliant Orange Procion MX and Logwood natural dye. A separate pattern was then silk screen over this with lemon discharge paste showing through the underlying orange colour.
Tie Dye
After researching the benefits of natural alternatives, I decided to try and take a more natural approach to my designs. I therefore decided to look into the possibility of incorporating tie dye into my pattern designs.
After extensive tests and reviewing samples, I decided that maybe tie dye did not fit the aesthetic I was looking for as I wanted to create a more polished design. The tie dye methods I was however quite keen on was one that created a series of parallel, striped lines as well as a large scale dip dye sample. I will look into maybe incorporating these into the final design.
Natural dye mixing
As I am hoping to eliminate as many synthetic dyes from my work as possible, I attempted to mix a stronger natural dye (Brazilwood) with a weaker natural dye (Bramble) in the hope that the yellow colour of the Bramble would fade to leave the pink colour of the Brazilwood.
The top unfortunately did not dye well which I think is because the top was only 50% cotton but it did start off as a yellowy orange and after only a few washes you could already see a red/yellow two tone effect which I thought was very attractive and convinced me that this kind of mix can work so I will look into this further.
Anthotyping
This is a method of imprinting on naturally dyed fabrics using only UV exposure. I found that this did not work on fabrics imbued with the natural dye (although I suspect it would eventually) but I had more success when painting on fabric with natural pastes made with plants that are susceptible to fading.
The green paste was a mixed of Chlorophyllin and Xanthin gum and as this is one of the stronger natural dyes, the anthotyping effect after 1,000 seconds on the UV exposure unit was very faint whereas the yellow paste was Turmeric mixed with Manutex and this created a far more strong effect. I definitely want to look into creating a subtle effect in my final garments using anthotypes so I will do further work on this technique.
Natural print pastes
In order to avoid using synthetic print pastes, I want to try creating natural dye pastes for screen printing. I was informed that mixing Ferrous Sulphate (Iron) with Tannin will created a strong black. I made this paste by mixing Iron with Gallnut Tannin in hot water then adding Xanthin Gum to thicken the mixture. Additionally I tried mixing Xanthin gum paste with pure essence natural dyes as well as creating thinner colours by mixing natural dye water with Xanthin gum or Manutex to thicken it.
These created very effective designs that can either give a strong or subtle effect so I definitely feel that this is a sufficient replacement for the use of synthetic dye pastes.
Sample dress
For the sample dress I decided to dye the pattern pieces with Elderberry natural dye. Unfortunately I had some unforeseen problems as it became apparent that Elderberry dye is highly reactive to changes in pH. As Elderberry is acidic, the presence of alkali turned the pink colour to a mint green colour so when I added a strong washing detergent to the dye baths, it changed the colour of the pattern pieces but rather interestingly, when in contact with an acid solution such as lemon juice, it reverts back to its original colour. I also found that when attempting to mix Logwood with the Elderberry, the Logwood is also reactive to pH and when mixed with an alkali solution, it turns the purple Logwood to a light brown colour.
As a result, I decided to produce 2 sample dresses and incorporate the use of acidic and alkali pastes in order to create further effects.
Practice dress
I decided to first produce a practice dress in Calico to test the fern prints and work out a method of getting the designs to meet at the hems. For the print paste I used black procion MX paste.
This has taught me a method for aligning the hems but it is still quite difficult so I think that for the final project garments, this would need to be taken into consideration.
I also feel that the central fern design is too big and does not match the fronds at the sides and I should reduce the size of this. I'm also not keen on how the areas filled with corpse wood design did not really print so I will go over these areas with a black pen to increase the detail and re-do these screens.
Sample dress 1
A dress made with banana and cotton poplin fabric which were both dyed with elderberry with the cotton fabric also being dyed with Logwood and then mixed with an alkali solution.
The dress was then printed with the central design being printed with Chlorophyllin and black iron paste and the side fronds being printed with lemon juice paste.
The reduced size of the central design is I think now too small and if I was to use this design for the final dress I would increase the size of this and also increase the width of the side fronds as these are not as noticeable as I'd hoped.
The central design in black and green was a little more mottled than hoped and also quite faded but I think this suits the subtle nature of the side fronds. The side fronds on the front are very subtle but I am rather fond of this and I do think that the side fronds on the back are particularly striking.
I did struggle to match the designs up on the side seams as I found it confusing trying to work out the the angle of design while taking the hem widths into account. I will definitely need to pre-plan for this when designing the final garments.
Sample dress 2
The second dress is made with pattern cuts from Hemp and Cotton Poplin and is dyed with Elderberry and is to be printed with Logwood print paste and an alkali paste made with soda detergent and thickener.
The central fern colours I felt didn't work as well as I'd hoped, the three colours were distinctly separated whereas I was hoping they would blend a little better. I like the colour and look of the side fronds and particularly like the back of this dress, I think the Cotton Poplin printed and looked better than the Hemp fabric.
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