Dyeing

Fiber Art 101: Dyeing

Dyeing (no not of boredom!) is the application of pigments or dyes on textiles such as yarns, fabrics, and fibers with the goal of achieving color that lasts. Historically, the main source of dye has been from natural pigments extracted from plants or animals. Some natural dyes can be made from avocado, turmeric, walnut, red cabbage, hibiscus, and marigolds just to name a few. The possibilities of natural dyeing are endless with using leaves, plant materials, nails, and wax to create unique designs.

Since the mid-19th century artificial dyes became the dominant use for textiles. They can offer a broader range of colors and the dyes can be more stable to washing.

There are many ways to dye cloth and many cultures have created beautiful distinctive techniques. Ombre dyeing creates a gradient, whereas water immersion can be used to create solids. Fabric can also be hand-painted with dye. Resist-dyeing applies pigment to some areas of a textile while preventing the color from reaching other parts. There are several traditional methods of resist-dyeing. Ikat refers to a method of dyeing in which yarn is tied and resist-dyed before it is woven into a textile. Batik uses wax to prevent dye from soaking all areas of a textile. The Shibori dyeing method is from Japan. In Shibori sections of cloth are tied, clamped, and folded off before a textile is dyed, thus creating patterns. Do you want to learn how to use natural dyeing? Let us know!