I Tried Dyeing Fabric With Plants From My Backyard
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ธ.ค. 2023
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Welp. Didn't feel like baking, so I dumped some fabric in water for days and days and basically nothing happened. Also, there's a nice channel chat in there, enjoy!
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Normally I enjoy watching you wing things. But this time, because I've done a fair bit of natural dyeing, I was sorry to see you waste your time. Wild Colours by Jenny Doan is very, very useful and some of the book content is available on the website. I looked up "lantana as dyestuff" and from the first research paper I saw, it requires a metallic mordant, like copper sulphate or ferrous sulphate. But the colors are still mustard to brown. I've never heard of plain salt as a mordant, but weighing matters, and the quality of your water matters (ours is hard and ruins colors). I think that with the rosemary, you needed about 3x as much plant material. If you want an easy, successful batch - try Queen Anne's Lace - leaves and flowers yield a lovely lemony yellow.
I've used salt as a mordant but I've also only dyed things with store bought dyes. It might only work with store bought dyes for an I know.
One of my favorite books on this stuff. Had great success with the things I've tried from it.
The book is my Jenny Dean.
"Yay, I made dirty fabric!"
You learned techniques for several colors of antiquing fabric, very important for costuming 👍👍
This is an AMAZING perspective on this video!!! I know there are a lot of comments on how to get more vibrant results, but this is the first I saw to explain a purpose for THESE results!!
Now THAT'S what I call a silver lining!
The only youtuber ever to say "y'all, we need to have a little chat" and then follow it up with the fact that you're finding it too easy to make all these videos and damnit you need another job just to keep you occupied so you don't end up accidentally making too many 🤣
If you ever wanted to surprise us with an extra video in one week sometimes im sure we would all be delighted to have a second video from you!
2 videos a week is okay too, you don't have to limit your self ♥️ I always love seeing your videos 🌲♥️
Random bonus videos would be totally welcome. Like keep all the planned Fridays and every once in a while a Tuesday happens to have a notification that a video posted too.
Cotton is very difficult to dye. You need to have the mordant in the pot with the dye and fabric to allow the dye to penetrate the fabric. You will likely need to use the Alum or Soda Ash with cotton. You won't be able to dye cotton with Vinegar.
Seconded!
It does give really good insight into why dyed fabrics have been so valuable throughout history and why people went crazy for vibrant hues. Chemical dyes are a relatively recent development that we've all come to take for granted. It's good to have some perspective on that and appreciate it more. 🙂
If you want some lovely dyeing results, try onion skins. The yellow ones make a lovely golden color and the red ones make a green. For the best results, you need the same amount (weight) of plant material and whatever you’re dyeing. Dyeing animal fibres is also way easier than dyeing cotton.
60 year gardener here. I never eat lantana berries, great bird food! I grow a few things that are toxic until ripe, and the birds generally grab them the second they are ripe. I also feed wildlife. I want to dye too. I bought a big pot. Can't wait to figure it out.
FYI it's called AL-um. Try boiling your fabric first, and then leave the fabric in your dye bath and simmer for a couple of hours, let cool overnight before you rinse. Also, try looking up eco-dying. You won't always get the color that you think you should. Dying fabric is so fun when you get some cool results! Don't give up!!
I'm glad you said it 😊. I hate correcting people, but I was cringing at a-lum.
@@favoriteswubby 😅 Me too, me too!!
And its the thing you thicken your water with to float your colors on for marbling paper.
You need to leave the fabric to dry with the 'dye' in it, with the mordant in the mixture. Then after it has been in something like a plastic bag over night you rinse it to get anything out left over. Plus heat fixing, ironing, the fabric before rinsing also helps to keep the natural dyes. And the Fabric HAS to be a natural fiber in order to dye with natural dyes. I live in the north of England and regularly use foraged goods to dye fabric, and the steps above I have found to work each time.
Do you have any resources to share with tried and true methods?
Love these tips from your own experience!
Just a suggestion: I have used Turmeric to dye cross stitch fabric. I was very impressed with the results.
I had a friend who did a lot of dyeing with plants and such, and the one that amazed me was onion skins. She got a pretty peach colour (I'm not sure if it was red onion, yellow onion or a combo of both, but I remember thinking I could just save them in my freezer and try it myself).
If you use fabric softener or scented laundry products, especially long lasting ones that are often contain wax, your washer may be harboring chemicals that will interfere with some dyes.
It's always good to have videos prepped ahead of time. If you become ill, you'll still have videos to post.
I enjoyed the chatty bit at the table but oh man I was yelling at the screen “why are you picking out the bits and putting them back into your pile of berries?” 😂
Cotton is very difficult to dye with natural dyes. And salt isn’t a mordant unfortunately. Some blogs or things you find online may say it is but dyeing is very sciency and salt isn’t a mordant. I highly recommend dyeing wool! Wool is much easier because it’s a protein fiber. I have dyed wool yarn with black beans and acorns very successfully.
Oh thanks for that idea, I have an oak tree and I’m for ever cleaning up the acorns so they won’t grow, I have been dumping them in an old plant pot for the past few years 🤔🤔wonder if they can be used even if they are a few years old😹😹😹
@@dawsiei suspect it would work. Often nature responds well to fermentation.
I think you have to add mordant to the thing that’s producing the dye as well as the fabric 🤷🏼♀️ I do know that avocado skins and red cabbage work really well! I’ve dyed with both and get gorgeous pinks and blues.
My German great-grandparents dyed Easter eggs with red cabbage.
Avocado dyeing is amazing and so fun and pretty!
I have dyed white cotton lawn with avocado pits and it gives a vintage pink color.
I used red cabbage to colour Easter eggs too (I'm from Hungary), worked well, gave a nice blue.
Would you mind giving me some tips how to dye wool with cabbage? If you dyed wool/yarn. Because I've started to spin and want to dye yarn, but the natural books I have only mentioned waid and indigo... What mordant did you use and how did you make the colour stay/finished?
I just have to say as a consumer of close captioning that your ability to spell the grunts and groans in your video is very impressive!
Salt is for plant fibers (cotton, linen,) and vinegar is for protein fibers (wool, silk.) You'll need specific, commercial dyes for polyester. There is a ratio, i.e. x amount of salt or vinegar per y weight of fabric, but I can't remember what it is or where I found it. I think I have dyeing notes, but I'm moving and my notebooks are packed.
Pre-wash your fabric, then pre-soak your fabric in water with salt/vinegar for at least overnight. I got my best results when I soaked fabric for four days, but that's overkill. You need salt/vinegar in your dye bath, too.
I've never used soda ash or alum because - I didn't feel like it. I've dyed fabric, yarn, and clothing using food dyes (Easter egg tablets and liquid dyes,) and RIT dye. If using a commercial dye, follow their instructions. Chem Knits Tutorials has a lot of info on using food dye.
If using non-food-safe dye, DO NOT USE ANY TOOLS YOU'VE USED FOR DYEING FOR FOOD. DO NOT.
I've seen people use avocado skins and pits to dye fabric, it creates a very nice pink
I came to say the same thing. I’ve had success using the pits and peels of avocado skins even without mordants.
Also, your fabric isn't ruined. Now you have antiqued your fabric for other projects in the future. Albeit with a bit more work.
She could reuse it for future experiments as well as it didn't take much colour
Always happy to have more videos from you.
You didn't fail. You are just practising lol
If you have blooms with color, like your lantana, you can try smashing them into the fabric for spots of color. Place the fresh bloom on the cloth, fold it over and few times and cover with another thicker piece of cloth and bash it with a hammer to crush the flowers and release the stains. Or you can put your fabric with blooms between two pieces of wood and walk over it, even rocking multiple times to really press the flowers' juices out. Let the fabric dry with the crushed plants still in it, then rinse.
I sing 1920’s love songs with my husband professionally but very part time since he got a job with regular hours. We do senior citizen environments, plus small-medium music festivals, and Ukulele Festivals on a regional basis. For 3 years he had a flexible day job and we had an expert agent. Those years, singing was my primary income. That was such a wonderful job! We still sing on weekends but Fridays are the best at Elder residences and lunch programs.
Getting paid to sing love songs to my beloved is just the best job ever.
And yes, freelance rocks. It’s hard to get bored but you’re always too busy. I do cat sitting and teaching Knitting, and I used to belly dance for 20 years and we sing, and I take care of my 89 year old mom’s needs.
I think, as long as you're clear to everyone (most of all yourself), you could always upload extra videos at random if you happen to have extra stuff to upload! (I say that rather than maybe upload more times a week because it seems really easy to fall down the "more content, more content!!" hole). I definitely wouldn't be opposed to an extra video every now and then!
Also, that new sweater dress at the end is _so_ cute and looks _so_ cozy!
Avocados and onion skins are far kinder starters for natural dyes 💚
I love lantana, but it never occurred to me that it might be edible.
I once dyed fabric with avocado peels. It made a lovely pinky mauve color. Other than that I use commercial dyes. I bought a big tamale pot to dye in.
Alum at the store is slightly different from dying Alum and also way more expensive, would suggest getting it from Amazon or something. The thing about mordanting is not every mordant works with every fiber and dye stuff. Like vinegar won’t work as a mordant on cotton, it’s specifically more for protein fibers and an acid dye. When it comes to natural dying and guessing what color something will turn out…..most of the time it’s going to be yellow. If you want a win I highly suggest getting some rose madder root powder and a muslin bag to keep it from sticking to the fabric. I like natural dying but it’s a lot of work and so for my sewing projects I just use fiber reactive dyes and it’s still quite a lot of fun.
Loved this and hope you try again. I know with natural items you have to use a lot of ingredients to get more potent dyes. Maybe try dyeing with beets?
Also Sally Pointer has a cool video on natural dyeing of yarn you might like
AHHHHHHHHH, HOODIE DRESS PT. 2OOOOOO! Looks amazing and hardcore cozy. I'll definitely watch for better pics on Insta.
Other more expert folks have given you better advice, but as someone who uses natural dyes on her hair, yeah the mordant goes in WITH the dye. But buying a dedicated stock pot to use with dye was a brilliant move and I'm impressed. Winging it with forethought. You will need that!
...you could always give us more videos per week, assuming you don't burn out. I will watch as many as you make.
Hi Charlie, I watched a video the other day about Victorian times, and they used stale urine, (yea, it stinks, but is free! 😂), as a mordant to die with plant materials. They did not have polyester and alike in those days, all natural fabrics. They just added some stale urine, the plant material they wanted to use, and let it all simmer for as long as needed per die. Some an hour.. I guess you really need to do a bit of research on this, but there are really good books about it, I hear! Good luck! I wish you and your hubby wonderful holidays! Hugs! 🤗❤ Video: How Victorian England Celebrated Christmas | Victorian Farm: Christmas (3/3) | Real History Skip to min. 32.35 to find the dying. And then 38.13 min. in to see the results.
...I want to take this opportunity to say I love your CC's - you put the FUN in functional 🤓 I especially like the transcription of the theme tune *chef's kiss*
Alum is traditionally added to pickle brines for home canning. It's meant to keep the veggies you're pickling crisp, and prevent them from getting mushy during the canning process. It's also an ingredient in baking soda, I believe.
Be careful. Dyeing has been done for thousands of years. It has and can be done safely but keep in mind that we use mordants that are typically much more pure and concentrated than what folks used in the past. Alum is reasonably safe. Salt or soda ash work for plant fibers, so cotton, linen, nettles, like that. Vinegar will work with wool and silk or blends of the same. Some of the other mordants you need to be sure you have a mask on, preferably and N95 and work outside. Keep your pot for dyeing separate from your cooking pots and never switch them... and I really do mean never. Depending on what you are using you can end up leaving residues in the pots that you can not see and may make you sick/dead. Always work with a window or door opened so you can get very adequate ventilation. Gloves are also a good idea, as you learned when you were picking and working with the berries. Some stuff is far worse to have on your skin and can cause burns.
Now that I freaked you out... Sorry, but also not that sorry.... have fun with it all, just be safe when you are working on things.
I want to say thank you for giving me the confidence to just wing it. I threw together a skirt at the last minute for Christmas (pattern, what pattern?) and while it didn't exactly turn out perfectly (and let's not talk about hem length), I learned a ton, had fun, and made sure it had pockets. Pockets and comfy, and the rest will come with practice. I've been enjoying your videos for several months and now I just went for it. Thank you.
I absolutely love to hear that! Congrats on going for it and many happy creations for your future!
I hate doing most things fiber related. But I love watching you make things. It’s your great and flexible personality. I would not mind more videos a week.
I would go with the resources listed in many of these comments but I will add that my experience with natural dyes is leaving it in the dye bath overnight or longer really helps. Also naturally fabrics give the best results.
I like your chats :) they help me feel like i'm hanging out with a friend. i have the same thing happening of accidentally not socializing much 😅
Sorry to see that the dyes didn't work out but we had the pleasure of seeing you, so yay for us 😊. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy new year ❤
Being several weeks ahead sounds awesome! I haven't been making content on youtube for very long, but I got really burnt out pretty quickly trying to make one video a week when I started. And now it's been two months since I've put anything out. I do all the editing, too, and it's a LOT of work. But I figured out how to make youtube shorts and instagram shorts when I'm not making full-blown videos. I think that is how I will deal with not being able to make a full video for now while I'm figuring out a more efficient process.
general comments: food stuffs (things that are edible) seldom make particularly good dye. often, even if they produce a nice color to start, fade very quickly to a stain. think, for example, about what happens when you spill food on a white table cloth. usually after a couple washings, you have a grey/beige/dirty looking spot. when i launched into dyeing, i found quickly that wool was the easiest option to dye, (you'll need alum, at minimum, as a mordant. there are other options but they are progressively more toxic), and many flower petals are lovely dyes. A Dyer's Garden by Rita Buchanon is my favorite easy to access book about natural dye!
You can use citric acid in stead of vinegar and it is much easier to dye protein fibres like wool and silk.
I did a science experiment in highschool dying fabric with natural vs synthetic dyes and it was so much fun! From what I remember tumeric definitely has the best color payoff with the natural dyes, which is wholly unsurprising since it stains stuff so easily when you aren't even trying. And there were some red berries that worked really well too, but I don't remember what kind they were. It was such a fun experiment, and my mom kept the little 10 x 10 squares I dyed to make them into a quilted wall hanging!
I always find it interesting when Americans go nuts over Lantana bushes growing in their garden.
Yes, it's pretty.
Yes, it smells nice.
However, here in Oz, in most of the country, it's a noxious weed and the local council can fine you for deliberately planting it and/or not making serious attempts to eradicate it from your property. It has a voracious growth rate. I've seen it completely cover an empty quarter acre block of land in less than a year. If you have the time and the patience to keep it cultivated, it does have a lovely display.
🙃🐨🇦🇺
Yeah, when I was a kid out house had tonnes of the Lantana. It was a constant battle to kill the stuff. Oh that smell, I'll never forget it. Lantana is the most vile plant on the planet.
extensive book learning is highly indicated here!
Alum is a naturally occurring rock. "Pickling Alum" is a weaker version of the Mordant grade alum. They are the same thing. Salt is better as a post dyebath treatment: it usually "brightens" a color. Over in the vitamin/supplement section of your grocery store, you can find Ferrous Sulfate--a common dietary supplement. That works better as a pre-dyebath mordant. It will "sadden" a color: make it more grey toned. Shifting the pH of a dyebath will often produce variances in a color: white vinegar for acid and baking soda/washing soda/ lye for a base shift. All of these only need a very little bit to be effective, so chances of poisoning yourself/family/water center are pretty much non-existent.
In future: you don't need to puree fruit/berries, simply crushing them with a masher/rolling pin will do. If you feel the need to puree things, put it into a cheesecloth that you can tie up jellybag style, then dump the jellybag into your dye pot, add water and continue on. That will save you the hassle of washing the pulp out of your fabric/fiber.
Volume of dye plant to fabric/fiber is important also. Flowers of most types need to be 3 to 4 times the weight of the stuff being dyed. Barks and roots--depending on what they are from--usually need same weight to 2x the weight of the dye stuff. Barks/roots also stay better/longer than flower dyes.
There is also a difference between staining and dying. Beets look like they would dye but in fact they stain and the fibers don’t stay colored. Also, they are never purple.
Wool and other (edited) animal fibers/protein fibers (not plant fibers) are a lot easier to dye. You can dye them with food coloring or Kool-Aid. If you use food coloring, you need to add an acid (which can be vinegar or citric acid). If you use the right amount of Dyestuff with the right amount of fiber, and you bring it to heated (almost a boil) but you don’t stir it… because stirring will make it felt…, ideally, all of the dye bonds with the fibers and your water will turn clear. (This is a wonderful trick for Internet use.) It’s called “exhausting“ the dye.
What’s really interesting is if you are dyeing wool and you measure a certain weight of wool and a certain weight of dye and it’s the right temperature, it doesn’t matter if you use a swimming pool worth of water or a pot’s worth. If you leave it long enough, all the dye molecules will find and bond with protein fiber molecules.
You are welcome to contact me for more wool info., but I dye with “acid” dyes, some of which are food grade, rather than gathering natural plants and using mordants (the mordants that make the brightest color are unfortunately highly toxic). Interestingly, this means that some natural dyes are far more toxic than some “artificial” dyes.
PS silk and nylon and other fur/hair fibers like alpaca, mohair, dog, etc, are dyed the same as wool. And there are other dyes that work on wool. I just know about acid (vinegar) dyes.
Oh no! I said wool and other “plant” fibers, but I meant wool and other “protein fibers/hair fibers”. I’m sorry, that was a mistake Probably added when I was using Siri. I went and fixed it.
The Reader's Digest Crafts book has an excellent overview of dying that you can adapt to the natural materials you have. It is thorough but brief and has useful pictures.
Sorry about the dying. Maybe get hold of some indigo or marigolds next time, something we know gives a lot of colour ❤
Dyeing is fun but it's like baking you definitely need a recipe and a scale, esp. when you're a beginner. Many plants and berries will also only "stain" your fabric and won't actually dye, so they'll look pretty right after dyeing but fade out super quickly with light and washing. Definitely worth doing a little bit more research beforehand and getting some solid ingredients. I've dyed birch and indigo with very little experience but good recipes and ingredients and got awesome results :)
I've worked from home since 2008. It's great, but it can feel quite isolating at times especially when you realise the only people you see or speak to are the occasional neighbour, your partner, and the staff at the local supermarket (and then only if there's a problem or you need to return something because it's all self-service). Covid really brought it home to me because lockdown didn't change my life at all. I don't miss being at work for 7am, although oddly I do miss the drive there in the early morning with little traffic about but lots of wildlife and beautiful dawns. I certainly don't miss the management and the beaurocracy, but I do miss the camaraderie and sharing of ideas of working in an office, and I know I've lost self-confidence from spending so much time alone. And yes, I do talk to myself, and to the cats, the computer, and various inanimate objects around me! Sometimes it's good to go and spend time with other people, and it makes you appreciate your alone time even more.
Really enjoyed the video. I've only ever used a commercial dye, but spent so much time rinsing I'm not sure if it was worth it and the top always has to be hand washed because the dye still leeches, and I don't think I'm ever going to dye anything else but if I do at least I've learned something from watching that maybe wouldn't sink in from reading about it.
You could always work on a few projects at the same time and post extra videos when you feel like it.
It's like to see cooking videos.
It's good to see things that don't work sometimes. That is the reality of natural dyed. A lot of natural dyes are not lighfast, even if you get good colour, so it's hard to use them for clothes. I've read that madder, indigo and weld are the best natural dyes for lasting colours.
I would love to see a “Make & Bake” video series in which you show how to make a garment that’s inspired by something you baked/cooked. You might not get good traction from the baking videos, but you might get it by combining the genres since nobody else is doing it, thus giving you a wider audience within the TH-cam algorithm. Also, you should try dyeing fabric with CaitConquers.
Ooo that's a fun idea!
@@gettheetothestitchery So happy you like the idea!! You just made my year!!!! 🎊 🎊🎊
Black walnut hulls make beautiful browns . No mordant necessary. Queen Ann lace gives a yellow, needs mordant. I’m a spinner so usually dyeing wool or other animal fibers.
Well that just reaffirms my stand of not dying alone! I have a friend who knows about dying so I would go there! And yes I giggle in my brain too!
I know you love some research and not other types (lol) the dying is really affected by the fiber content and then a mordant. Some things require a mordant or... more. I dyes line and it needed a alum bath followed by a tannin bath to have the fabric really take colors. Of course that is for natural dyes. Had a whole weekend of it this year... even log dying! I will tell you that my teacher who specializes in natural dyes never told us salt would work (just for manmade dyes). Don't give up though! It was a blast to try onion peels, brazilwood, cochineal, and other cool stuff!
I was definitely eyeing that new sweatshirt dress. It looks great and I definitely want one
Arm & Hammer washing soda ash. The internet says its official name is sodium carbonate and its chemical formula is Na2CO3. As a commercial product, this stuff goes by two names: 1) soda ash is its trade name and 2) Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda) is its most recognized brand name.
It's a yellow box, about 10 inches tall, with a red ring and an arm & hand holding a sledge hammer. It's found in the cleaning products area, usually on the bottom shelf.
I used to mix Washing Soda Ash with 20 Mule Team Borax for a home made laundry soap. The combo cleans way better than any other manufactured laundry soap & gets out built up soap & grime residue left on your laundry, imo.
Sooo, you’re holiday video is DYE HARD!?! I’ll see myself out. After watching, liking and subscribing of course
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!!!
There is a pre-coloring detergent called synthrapol.
The only place I know to get it is at Dharma Trading and I just use it in the washer. I've never used mordant.. thought it was for polyester.
I use salt in the rinse water to hold the color.
Dharma has anything and everything to do with dyeing.. including instructions.
Just watching all the past videos... but I got excited when I saw the mushroom jars in your kitchen! We have the same ones, just painted differently in our kitchen!!
I LOVE what you're wearing at the end of your video!
You can use a collander to soft out the tidbits from your berries. Use it dry first.
I just wanted to say i appreciate the details you put into the subtitles! Like the short riiip and the long riiiiiiiip. Makes watching you way more accessible
Dying is... -sighs- We have yet to do it successfully in this house. Something always goes awry - I love the new hoodie dress! looks heckin cozy
Hey Charlie,
Why not try beats, mustard or tomato sauce?
They're quite effective in changing the color
of small sections of my clothing.
& don't get me started listing art supplies, hehe
BTW when you started this video,
you showed us the golden berry bush,
I thought you were gonna make a wreath.
hUgz from Ohio, Lee
I will take any and all videos you make!!!
I have dyed exactly 1 piece of clothing (pink dress to red dress) and I made my best friend come over and hold my hand while I did it because I had no idea what I was doing 😂
Algorithms are good at finding the one specific thing that can be used as the identifier to allow it to be grouped with other things with the same identifier. When a algorithm has a channel that is identified as textiles it will still promote your vid that is content wise a cooking to your textiles people. Like you said, some people would like that but then some of the textile folks would not interact the same with it as they would others. What it really messes with is the ability to promote the video (and by extension, channel) to a new audience. If it happens long enough the viewer numbers for all channel vids will tank.
This is how i see it at least.
I appreciate the random tangent! I’m also passionate about just making stuff and crafting and considering youtube as a way to have an income without withering away at some corporate job. I have no idea what I’m doing either, I thought taking two weeks to edit a video was too long, I don’t know how people do everything in a week either… but it was nice to hear about your experience :)
And thanks for sharing the failures as well… since I 100% would have done the same thing with some plants in my backyard if I hadn’t seen this lol
powdered Alum was always in my house growing up. My mom used it as a home remedy to dry out canker sores and as a bleed stop if puppy nails were cut too short.
Yes! More than one video a week would be lovely; however, if you are able to work up a backlog of videos that might he a good time to work on a mote involved project similar to your patchwork or maybe something historical if that was something you were interested in
I definitely would watch a second video a week.
Quick tip, if you want to have a win I died cotton yarn with tumeric (and salt) and it was BRIGHT amber yellow.
Lantana is classified as a pest in Australia because it will unalive cattle/sheep if they eat it. Lots of $$$$ is spent on lantana eradication.
Sending best wishes from Down Under 🥰🌺🌼🌸💐🇦🇺😎
You should try with red cabbage! I hear that comes out purple which would be far more fun.
Once upon a time, Alum was a very precious substance. Alum wars were a thing! Good on yer for giving it a go :)
2 videos a week sounds awesome! Love your videos! Try red cabbage next over the lantana berries failed fabric! I would love to see that!
I love that U tried to dye stuff. Wondered how it would go as my dyeing experiences in the 70s it was a fine art. I hope U do go back 2 background work part time. I like the variety of projects U take on. I'm one who likes Ur cooking vlogs too. I'd also enjoy 2 vlogs a week, bring them on. Merry Christmas. Ciao.
That dress at the end looks incredible!
Okay in a video many moons ago you told us about Remainders in Pasadena. I finally made it out to visit my sister in law for the holidays and WoW - this place is the greatest!!!! Thank you for Merrying my Christmas!
They really are the best!
When l lived in LA l use to do background work too. I really enjoyed it. But since l have been in AZ l haven't been able to find any. My mother was actually sit in for the actress who played Ugly Betty when she was out of country.
How about filming those extra videos and having them in advance in case you fall ill, you need a time off or anything else?
It brings piece of mind and you can always do a quick audio intro to say when you filmed it and why you post it now.
I love Lantana. Lucky you to have some.
Sorry your project did not come out as expected . It’s OK that just means you have room to grow.. which you know, of course.
Do you know if you threw an extra video in every now and again, nobody would be mad at you . I don’t exactly know how TH-cam feels about it, but I’d be happy to see extras.
Hi, Well I'm back with another letter.
Back in my younger days in the 80's, there was a "lets get get back to the way our ancestors did things" movement going on in my country, and especially in the more rural towns along The Gulf of Bothnia, where I happened to live at the time. One of the popular things to do was going out to the woods along a river or even the Gulf of Bothnia (the water there was and is brackish at best), aka "the sea" in those parts, get a whole bunch of different things from the forest and dye wool yarn with them, and see what colors they'd get. I wasn't a part of that movement, but people I knew were, so I was told about it, and was shown photos. They were all women, and perhaps this was a "feminist" thing back then. I can't quite recall.
What they did was taking wool yarn from actual sheep, probably scouring it with pot ash and rinse. Refill the pot with clean water from the stream, river or "sea" and put in the vegetable matter they wanted to play with. They used different kinds of lichen, blueberry leaves and stems (I think that our blueberries are called Logan berries in English), different types of moss and whatever natural things they could find. They would put the yarn in and whilst stirring slowly and vey carefully so to not shrink the wool, heat the whole thing for some time, cool and tip out the water, and use the river or the "kind of sea" water to rinse for a long time. After that, to make the yarn color fast, they heated more water with lots of salt and put the yarn in again. After this process was done, there was another good rinse (we get why they were doing this nearby a lot of water, don't we) and hanging the resulting product up on tree branches to dry.
The colored yarn they came up with were astonishingly bright, but the color had absolutely nothing to do with the color of the vegetable matter they used to dye them. I no longer remember what kind of vegetable gave what color, but the colors were so vibrant.
I came into the picture around this point because I would occasionally be offered some of the yarn for knitting. Compared to the commercially colored wool that you could buy back then, these were a revelation. The most beautiful colors and textures you could get. I remember making mittens in traditional patterns, from some of the wool, but thy are long gone now, many a move later. For more on this kind of thing, maybe check with women on TH-cam that does re-enactment work of medieval Europe. I've seen them fly by a couple times in other re-enactment videos. The ones I remember at the top of my head is The Welsh Viking, and Modern History TV, but I know there are others too.
I have no idea if this little exposé from my youth has any bearing on your experimentation on cotton. Maybe using linen would be closer to my little story, linen having been around for a while, not withstanding that linen is made of vegetable fibers, and not animal fibers like the wool.
Other than that, I'm back in Europe, My friend is in court order in-patient treatment for her psych issues, and getting closer to hospice by the day for the cancer. Hopefully she'll still be around after New Years, when I can get back to the US to see her again. Have a Merry Christmas, or whichever holiday you may celebrate, and a Happy New Year. Yours, Ann
Dear Ann,
I absolutely loved reading this story, and I'll definitely be doing some research on dyeing in this method for future endeavors! Hope your holidays have been and continue to be lovely!
@@gettheetothestitcheryHi there, Thank you for your kind reply. I'm glad that you enjoyed my story. I seem to have packed a lot of life into my life so far, and I have no intention to stop living a life packed... life. That sentence was a bit clunky, but never mind. Thank you, my Christmas has been exactly the way we (DH and I ) like it. Very relaxed.
I wish you a... Ok, I'm going to use my language here and say "God fortsättning". In translation it comes out as "good continuation", but our meaning is more warm and friendly. It's I hope you have a good continued time between Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night, when the active Christmas ends around here. Yours, Ann
Sometimes even with research and experience things don't work. I woke to not pavlova in my oven. Sticky weepy mess. Trying to think of plan B. But for dying fabric onion skins make a lovely yellow.
I’ve always heard alum pronounced with a short a sound. It is what givers your pickles their pucker.
Try wool fabric
Also iron to 'sadden' (darken/ mute the colour)
And I think the material of the pot can make a difference. I dont know a lot about natural dyeing but I've seen people talking about aluminium pots vs stainless steel vs cast iron
Yep, with natural dye, the pot can make a massive difference.
I don't know about fabric dying, but I know with natural dyes and like easter eggs different additives can have different effects. Red Cabbage will give a red-red/purple on eggs, but add vinegar or baking soda and it will change it to a different color balance because of the chemical change that occurs. Perhaps something like that is also in play here. Nice attempt though.
Yeah, dyeing is a total chemistry experiment, even with man-made dyes! Which mordant, acid, etc. you use matters with which plant material or dye color you use and which fabric you use. It can make your head spin for sure! But with your brain power and curiosity, you'll get it figured in no time! You might also try to 'set' your natural dyes with heat or by allowing it to dry in the fabric and then putting it in the dryer before rinsing. Not that it matters to me but just for reference, Alum is typically pronounced like album minus the "b" because it is basically just short for saying ALUMinum which is the main component of alum. But you do you! I'm with some of the other commenters though in thinking that you could always do 2 videos a week if you've got the ideas and time! Or you could consider doing a separate cooking channel so you could have another creative stream and shirk YT's stupid algorithm! Just spitballing, thinking out loud and being selfish because I do so enjoy your videos! LOL
Oh, and when you said "purple?", my thought was "nope, u going to get muddy brown"...
I love the dress - any plans on making a tutorial? I saw it on Insta and those double pockets??? Awesome!!! Plus the crossover hood? I need to make me one of those!
Isn't it simular to the blue dress video? Love the look as well.
@@dilshaad_23 it is but the pockets!!! such a great idea!
It was the last video.
@@ellegilyard1348 not the pockets... 😅
I actually didn't film making this dress at all (for the first time - gasp!) so there won't be a tutorial, but now that I've heard there's so much interest, maybe I'll do a hood exploration! (A pocket tutorial is on my list too!)
I've been experimenting with nature-dying. Salt and vinager??? Noooo, Alum it must be. You need more dying material for that much fabric. I liked the orange onionpeel. Cool colour. And avocado too. Used the peel and "stone" inside (sorry, english is not my mothertongue)
I let mine soke for 2 days. My problem is, my pan is high but not wide, so it doesn't get even but patchy. Even if I kerp stearing it all the time. But fun anyways
Stone is fine :) . You can also call it an avocado pit, which is not the same as an orange or apple pip. English is strange.
@@SewingandCaring oh thanks, i was looking for "core" but just remembered it later. Didn't know "pit". Thanks for teaching me 😊❤
The next time that you want to use flowers let them Dry on a pc of fabric that you don't really care about and then also press them to get the floral oil out of it in that how you can get some die
#2! I was hoping we’d get one before the end of the year. How would blueberries or cherries work? It’s a short A sound in Alum, not a long A, by the way. It’s used in pickling, which is why it’s in the spice aisle. I had a friend who told me her grandmother, after many children, would bathe her nether regions in an alum solution to “tighten things up” before relations. 😳 0 of 0 recommended (not that I know personally).
My grandmother would soak her fingers in alum after hand quilting to close up all the stab wounds. It was on hand from pickling things from the garden
Alum said like "Al, um....where are your pants?"
Hello, I'm from the north of England, and she pronounced it right "Ally- um". :D
@@SewingandCaring interesting. I didn't realize that was one of the words that are different between British and American English
@@kathyjohnson2043 honestly, it could be one of those words which is pronounced differently if you live 20 miles in any direction here. Last week my 75-year-old father had a hissy fit, foot stamping and everything, because he's from the south of England and I pronounced "Data" and "router" differently to the way he does. If you think your boomers are bad then you got nothing on ours lol.
If your free time for video production is bigger it’d make sense to adjust the uploads. I need to upload when I’m done to get that feeling of accomplishment. My speed is so slow I uploaded episode 5 before finishing 4 whose events correlate with ep 2 so really it’s correct. I can’t finish a stop motion at a consistent rate, monthly would probably be my best.
Bummer the dyeing failed, but I love seeing your journey of learning a new thing.
It was fun to watch you try ! Onion peels work well with a nice orange/yellow color and from what I recall, there is some "mordant" (chemical equivalent?) already in the onion.
You have a Thermador induction cooktop - I'm very jealous!!!!!!!
btw, I loved the tangent.
I love to know that you have so many projects, and I am happy to know a bit about you as a person because, let's be honest, you are not only a ... professional TH-camr (I am not putting the professional on quotes, because you have successfully manage to get an income out of your videos), but you are also a vlogger.
And as a vloger (I'm no longer sure how many "g"s the word has), you have the RIGHT to have tangents and explain a bit of your life.
In short... the reality is that I am watching your videos because of YOU, not necessarily because of content (although the content is right up my alley). You are fun, and I like to see you winging it.
I am nor sure if I'll ever be able to do your tutorials, but is really because I'm such a beginner, so if I want a tutorial with measuments, I will go and look for them. For now, you are stuck with me, because I'm first a fan of Charlie, then I'm a fan of Charlie's Stitchery Channel.
Love the new hoodie dress! So great