mordanting Archives - Page 9 of 9

Hand Painting with Natural Dyes Questions for FEEDBACK FRIDAY

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: I’m having trouble getting alum to dissolve. Even at 10% the solution was cloudy. This time I tried making a paste with boiling water but it still feels pretty crunchy. I’m amazed at how much pigment washes away. Using acid dyes I am used to seeing very little to no pigment in my wash water. I’m doing … Read more

Henna and Iron 1-2-3 vats for FEEDBACK FRIDAY

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: I’ve used henna in a 1-2-3 vat and love it but would like to get darker colors without redipping if possible. Is your recipe for the iron and henna online? We get very dark colors from henna but it is always through multiple dips. Do note that henna vats are stronger after several days of “ripening.” Indigo … Read more

Mushrooms As A Source For Color

Mushrooms as a Source for Color The North American Mycological Association writes: “In the early 1970’s Miriam Rice, a fiber arts teacher from Mendocino, California, discovered that many species of wild mushrooms were a source of pigments or colors. These pigments could be extracted fairly easily in hot water and used to dye natural fibers, especially wool. With the help of her friend and illustrator Dorothy Beebee, they published their results first in 1974 in the book Let’s Try Mushrooms for Color, with a second book published in 1980, Mushrooms for Color. A more recent book published in 2007 and … Read more