Thursday 13 August 2009

NATURAL DYEING WITH BEETROOT


It was with great interest that we tried using a new dyestuff. Beetroot is a very common product and, unlike most of our dyestuffs, is readily available from any supermarket.
Dyeing silk shawls requires less heat in the dyebath compared to other fabrics. Boiling up the beetroot and filtering was done in the same way as all our other colours (except indigo!), the mordanting of the silk shawls was also done the same way as usual.
Once the dyebath has been prepared and allowed to cool, the shawls are carefully lowered into the bath. This is then slowly heated until a mild simmering occurs. The shawls are now ready to be taken out and rinsed 2 or 3 times.
We were pleased with the resulting colour. (Next time we will try using red cabbage!)


Natural clothing, bags and so on...