Thursday, March 2, 2017

Second on the 2nd Goldenrod Yellow on Cotton Clothing

   I am linking up with Elizabeth for Second on the 2nd-at the end of her post are the rules and link up for joining in.



   These were some of the best yellows I had achieved so far using goldenrod-gathered here in our woods, so I thought I would share this post again. 

    One of the valuable lessons for me that I have learned over the years when dyeing with natural dye stuffs is to NOT do that final rinse for at least a week or more (as most books I have tell you to do). 

    When you do that you will see lots of color going down the sink. I usually let my pieces sit for at least a month before I hand rinse in cool water.

    Which reminds me: I have to give these blouses in this post a good rinse and then iron. I forgot about them til now. haha

    My plan was to list these in my Etsy shop if I don't snag them and wear them first lol



Tuesday, September 27, 2016


My Creativity Wednesdays Post Goldenrod Yellow On Cotton Clothing

I am very excited about my dye results on cottons.

Last year when I was going to the resale shops more often I searched on the sale racks for cotton tops-blouses-in hopes to dye them and or eco print them and then post in my Etsy shop. I picked up mostly smaller sizes hoping to attract some younger people. Going through them this week I found two large pieces-one long sleeve knitted cotton, and a pretty cotton blouse.

 I enjoy the surprises achieved with natural dyeing.

Last Saturday I grabbed a big paper bag and my scissors and collected ripe goldenrod flowers, they were at their prime and more of them this time- I collected enough to fill a water bath canner 3/4's full of the flowers.  We had been predicted to get rain over the weekend so I wanted to gather before then.

  Today, was my day to set up the dye pot. 

It is always good to scour your wool or other fibers first to rid them of any oils etc, especially cottons and most especially pre made articles of clothing.

Most cottons if I am dyeing with muslin or quilt fabric I can usually just use synthrapol in a hot wash, but I have found from past cotton natural dyeing that after the synthrapol I also use the scour wash from Earth Hues and follow their instructions. Especially for clothing articles I do this extra step when natural dyeing.

To dye cotton:   
      I go through the scour process, then I set up the mordant (fixative) process used for cellulose fiber alum acetate which I have only found at Earth Hues so far, and when you purchase just ask for their print out of information. I have no affiliation with Earth Hues I just learned about them several years ago from other online dyers-and they are really helpful with answering your questions too.
      Most resources just sell alum but there is an alum for wool and protein fibers and another alum for cellulose fibers.
    As with my wool dyeing when I have the mordant bath set up, then I start heating up my dye bath. I covered the goldenrod with water with a bit above it-heat up slowly and don't let it go to a boil. At least in my experiences dyeing with goldenrod for several years now I get a clearer yellow with this process. This takes just about the same amount of time as the mordant process.
        When the time is up on the mordant bath I used a designated spoon for dyeing and took out the blouses and placed into a designated dye colander in the sink. Squeeze to drain. Again as in wool some instructions say to rinse and some do not-I decided not to.
    For the dye pot strain out the goldenrod flowers. It is too hard for me to handle these big heavy pots now so I have a spoon that I just scoop out all the plant material. I get all of the big stuff but not all of the finer pieces.
    I then placed the cotton blouse in first and kept an eye on til I loved the color and then removed it.
     I then added in the tannish-pink knitted cotton shirt and added that to the dye pot-since it looked like there was lots of dye color left.
   and wow-happy happy dancin with the results. I squeezed out the blouses-not twist-and laid them out on thick towels to dry-I will change those up til they are dry.  and like the wool dye project-I won't rinse these out for around 5 days.

Here are some photos-just click to enlarge












I was really surprised with the pretty color achieved going over a tan-pinkish color knit cotton top. Now to wait and see how they dry and rinse out.

12 comments:

  1. Hi Kathy, that yellow is fab, I didn't realise that golden rod gave such a great colour - might have to raid a few trees in the park! Thanks for sharing! Happy 2nd on the second, hugs, Valerie

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  2. Beautiful color! These joining opportunities abound and are good to keep us going. Dyeing is not my thing, as you know, but I enjoy seeing it!

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  3. Welcome to your first Second on the 2nd. I enjoyed the natural dye process you talked about, but we are SO much different when it comes to dyeing. I was super impressed with the results you got. You go through a lot more steps than I.

    I was so glad to learn there is a difference between alums needed for wool/proteins and cellulose fibers. I got my alum at the grocery store and it was incredibly expensive. I was happy to learn there is a difference, even though I'm not sure it has made much difference in what I've done so far.

    Thanks for sharing this as your second look on the 2nd.

    BTW, I'll be happy to walk you through the process of setting up your link. The first time I did it, I got the hours confused. For example, if your post goes live at midnight, you need to start with 00:00 and end with 23:55 for the final day. Be sure to copy the code, then preview it in preview mode. It will tell if you have set it up correctly, or not. You may have to start over, as I did the first time.

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    1. thank you so much Elizabeth, the fun part of natural dyeing for me is that it is always a surprise- thanks for the help on the linky I am going to try it out after supper tonight

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  4. Wow.. what a beautiful color that makes! Amazing Kathy!

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    1. Thank you so much-this amazed me too when it came out of the dye pot. natural dyeing is usually a surprise which makes it fun for me

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  5. That is such a gorgeous yellow. Love natural dyeing.

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  6. What a rich color you got from the golden rod. I haven't tried to dye fabric but I certainly admire what you achieved.

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  7. You got a really rich yellow from the golden rod. I don't dye fabric but can certainly admire your skills.

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  8. Oh my gosh. What a beautiful yellow. And the blouse is so gorgeous after dyeing.

    Thank you so much for such a cheerful post.

    Aloha,
    Hunter

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  9. Love this yellow. I'm really glad you shared his again since I missed it the first time around. :) Hugs-Erika

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    1. Good evening Erika, thanks so much for stopping by this was a fun dye project

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