Natural Dyeing & Beginning a Dye Garden

My love of natural dyeing began when I joined a group of 10 artists, designers and educators on a course in 2018-19 at Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft with Jenny Dean.  Jenny is a published natural dyer with a wealth of knowledge and experience on the subject.

This introduction to good practice in natural dyeing including knowing about reliable dyes like madder, weld and indigo with good light and wash fastness properties as well as how to use a range of mordants to fix colour onto cloth was invaluable. 

Sample piece showing a range of colours created from workshop experiments

 Since then I have gone on to naturally dye cloth to create applique pieces and used dye extracts to create fabric paints for batik work.  The colours have a depth and balance when used in combination that is quite different from working with chemical based cold water fabric dyes which tend to be brasher and I find harder to produce subtle, interesting shades and tones.  Natural dyeing seems to give textile work a rooted feel, linking it to textile traditions and works from other times and places as well as being less harmful to waterways.

 My new role Lecturing at Northbrook College provided the opportunity to share this knowledge with students on the Textile Degree and we have started to create a raised bed natural dye garden at the campus with some green initiative funding awarded in 2022.  Watch this space for more updates on progress of the dye garden!

There is a Natural Dyeing day at Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft Saturday 27th August for anyone interested in learning more.  See my calendar for more info.