SUMMER ROSEMARY DYE
In my recent conversations with some of my followers I have come across the question “ what do you dye with?” a few times. Today I am going to share with you my recent experiments with summer rosemary.
I have tried to use rosemary for dyeing more in winter holiday season. It seems to be the only evergreen herb that looks vibrant in my garden when it’s bleak outside. The fragrance from the dye pot is gorgeous whatever the season. Member of a mint family, it also is known for its potential health benefits.
So here is my dyeing process and the recent experiments this summer.
I start simmering my dye pot with a bunch of rosemary for about 30 minutes or so until the water is quite saturated light coral colour. My plan was to dye medium weight linen. Linen as a cellulose fibre needs pre-treating with mordant before that. I describe more about homemade mordant and pre-treating linen with iron water in my Natural dyes guide here. I always pre-treat linen before I put my fabric in a dye bath.
One of my tips for no-streak dyeing is to lay and not to hang my items to dry. It can be on old towels or other soft surfaces. That way the mordant and the natural dye later don’t leave obvious marks, etc. Another thing that helps I believe is stirring the fabric well when it just goes in ( a few times is even better)
After dyeing is done and it dries, the linen fabric looks like this…
*rosemary grey shade achieved in the summer months
See how the colour shade changes in winter. Next photo is from my photo archive. It becomes more of a grey beige tone really. Seasonal dyeing is an amazing slow process indeed which makes you appreciate nature so much. I am still constantly learning and being surprised.
*grey beige shade of linen achieved in winter months
Let me know if you do experiment with summer rosemary. I would love to see your experiments and shades.
Take care, Tanya x
