Given how dandelion flowers stain your hands, I was curious to see how well they worked as a dye. This is what I think is the best natural dyeing fabric method in the current year.
I have been collecting dandelions for weeks and keeping them in the freezer. When it was time to use them, I gently heated them for an hour to remove the color. I left them to soak overnight, then squeezed the liquid with a piece of muslin.
Dandelion approach to bring out natural dyeing fabric.
The dye liquid was actually light brown and not yellow at all, and I think fresh dandelions will give more yellow. The fabric was soaked in soy milk and left for treatment for several weeks before dyeing.
This cotton veil scarf is a very nice caramel color, but it was very hard and I’m not sure I’ll repeat it again because it will be lighter because I can make a similar color out of the algae. tannins in alder cones. It was a lot of fun to paint with dandelions!
Return to Articles + Textbooks
Use the left / right arrows to move in a slide show, or swipe left / right when using a mobile device
