Up until the mid 19th century, all fibers were dyed with natural sources. Although textiles decay very quickly, archeologists have found some textiles colored with natural dyes that are at least 6000 years old….many from sealed tombs and burial chambers.
The first synthetic dye (a purple color) was created in 1856, by chemist William Perkin who was experimenting with the hydrocarbons in coal tar. Synthetic dyes rapidly became popular because they were more cost effective to produce. But ironically, they never really did improve upon the color palette of the homemade dyes…they synthetic indigo developed in 1904 was no richer or more vibrant than the real thing!
While it makes sense to use synthetic dyes on a larger scale, for costuming purposes the natural dyes can be wonderfully fun to work with. The natural variations lend a wonderful authenticity to your work.
Wild Color by Jenny Dean is as about as complete a resource as you can get if you are interested in doing your own dying.
The first section covers all sorts of dying techniques and methods, preparing fibers (whether animal or vegetable), creating and using mordants, and modifying colors. But don’t let all of these ideas and new terms scare you…it is all broken down in to easy steps and alternatives. Jenny Dean is definitely of the Don’t sweat it…just give it a try! school of thought. The wonderful chart that shows how 25 different shades can be made from just one dye bath…by applying different mordants and color modifiers. For those of us who are visual learners, this is a huge help.
The second section covers different dye plants you can use for natural dying. Each plant has it’s own color chart, so you have a good idea of what colors you can get from the flower, the leaves, or the bark. The different shade alternatives that can be created with mordants and color modifiers are also listed. These shading charts are also listed on the right edge of each page…you can literally flip through the book like it is a color wheel until you find the shade you want… and how easy is that?
Whether you want to dye cloth, yarns, or even buttons (mother-of-pearl takes dye beautifully) this book is a wonderufl tool. Check it out!