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When I was a kid I read this book – I can’t remember the name, but I do remember that it was about a large Jewish family during the depression maybe, which is besides the point, because it was the kooky kids in the book I liked. Anyhow, one of the young girls in the family got really upset because she spilled tea on her only good dance dress (which was white) and her mother was so smart that she dyed it in tea, and the daughter was still able to go to the dance.
Seriously, I thought that was so darn smart. I was only eight or so when I first read it, and I used to steal cloths from the cupboard and try to dye them in tea – usually with poor results. But from then on I was sort of fascinated that someone could do this, just dye items with stuff from the cupboard.
Of course later I found out that you can use lots of stuff as dye material. Lucky for you I did, because now, you and your little can take a weekend and have some fun making natural juice dyes.
The best part is that you can’t really mess up. You may get some funky colors, but mistakes aren’t terrible with this project. Once you make your juice dyes you can use them to color homemade clay dough, homemade paints, or use them to dye pieces of fabric, or white rope for crafts. Really you can even use this system to create your own colored yarn – but the process takes a little longer (we’ll discuss that some other day).
How to make the dye:
To make juice (or plant dyes) you need to take about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of a nature item, put it in a pot with about four cups of water, simmer on low for 1-2 hours, strain, and cool. When you add the coloring to something like homemade paint or clay, add a little at a time until you get the shade you want, much like you would food coloring. If you want to dye fabric, soak it overnight in the coloring. The vibrancy of the color depends both on the nature item used, and the amount you simmered.
Back when I was eight, I didn’t know to simmer the water – that was my big mistake.
Nature items to use:
For blue dye use: Red cabbage, blueberries, logwood chips, elderberries. or red onion skins
For yellow dye use: apple tree bark, marigold, turmeric, white onion skin, or goldenrod
For violet to purple dye use: Camellia or purple grapes
For pink dye use: Umbilicara
For brown and tan dye use: Coffee, walnut hulls, paprika, tea, greenbriar, or sassafras
For red dye use: cranberries or beets
For orange dye use: Yellow onion skin or oats
For green dye use: oak bark, peach leaves, or crab apple leaves and bark
I’m sure you can think of plenty of other cool items from outside to try. The most fun is for kids to randomly find items and just see what happens when you try to make dye.
Later (maybe tomorrow) I’ll post some homemade clay and paint recipes for those who need them to go with their dye.
Have fun!
I love your ideas, but you might want to change your list for blue dyes. I did both blueberries and red onion skins today and got shades of red/pink, just as I expected. I really would like a blue, but I’m pretty sure the red cabbage I bought isn’t going to turn blue either. I did make yellow, but I simply added the powdered turmeric spice instead of steeping it, and it turned out quite nice. I want a green to go with my blueberry and turmeric to package as gifts, but I don’t have the items you suggest. I will try spinach tomorrow, I think.
like what the fuck is this shit…i don’t know what a half cup of “nature item” is, please be more specific.
i’m so sorry for my agression, i am only angry because i currently have a massive vegetable lodged in my ass, and i think i might need to be taken to a hospital to have it surgically removed so i can eat it as planned. see, what happened was, i was putting up my curtains naked because i don’t like not having curtains…then my neighbors can see my tiny penis. so as i was reaching to put them up i got extremely sweaty. i then proceded to lose my balance, on accident folks, and then i fell backwards and just so happened to land on a potato standing up right on my kitchen counter. as you can see, this was embarassing to go to the hospital since they think that i was doing some sort of sexual act with the high fiber vegetable. but no, i was just putting up my curtains. the force of my fall must have been so great that it spread apart my ass cheeks and allowed the potato to slide in gracefully. now i am in pain and no one will talk to me.
do you have to mash up the berries?
801 days ago
[...] had luck dying play clay, cloth and paper with homemade vegetable, flower and fruit dye, but not Easter eggs. The colors are usually not potent enough to stick to the shell (I’m [...]
I heard that (a little) Spirulina makes for a good food coloring without strange taste.
Hi. :) The dye mixture you posted is dye for the hair or for clothes? Thanks. :D
CHRIS! How much do you rock! I just looked it up and it’s totally the book! I’m so excited – I’m buying it stat. Oh, and sorry Marye :( I so did not get that you were telling me the book.
Thank you so much guys :)
I think she meant the book you liked is called (or is part of the series) All of A Kind Family and that your dye recipes are awesome.
But I suppose it’s been awhile, so maybe you realized that.
Thanks for this by the way!
anybody,…- does it make any difference if the water is (town-)treated, (such as chlorinated or floridated), in either the soaking of fabrics prior or dying ?
i tried cranberries and it didn’t turn red it turned pink i left it in long and it still was pink why was it pink
hey there,
i’ve heard you can use aubergine to make fabric dye…have you tried it and if so what did you think?
Does anyone know how to make paint that is non toxic. I have been looking for dry pigment and chalk that would work. Can I use dye for such a project?
How can I dye my white vest to very light cream (winter white colour)
@Hannah – I do rinse the fabric after. The dye will usually set and you can wash it even (it will fade some). I let it sit for anywhere from hours to overnight. The color varies depending on length of time sitting.
I would not wash hand dyed items with other clothing, just to be safe.
Do you rinse the fabric after?
how long do you let it sit?
if it is clothing, will it affect the other garments?
If i am doing this with little kids and with tee shirts, do you have any other tips?
Thanks so much!
1329 days ago
[...] 4.Your natural dyes. [...]
Jennifer, I do alot of fishing. I use to buy grape dye in an 8oz. bottle to dye my plastic worms in. Believe it or not it really made a difference in catching fish! Some time ago the only company that made this kind of dye close down. Do you think that I can make a dye that will soak into plastic worms, and is there anything different I need add to the mix besides berries and water? Thanks, Jack
@Andy Honestly, I’m not sure. We always use dyes pretty quickly. If you use herbs or flowers I doubt it’ll go bad unless you keep it for months at a time. But why make dye you won’t use?
How long does it take until the dye goes bad?
PLEASE HELP ME!
Thanks for the tip, MamaBird! Did you use raw, fresh spinach? I imagine that would produce the brightest green color.