Description
*Due to customs restrictions, these kits can only be shipped within NZ. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.
These fun and educational kits have been carefully put together to give you the opportunity to create your very own naturally dyed fabrics using a range of raw dye ingredients.
This is a kit designed for ‘bundle dyeing’. Bundle dyeing (as opposed to immersion dyeing) is a method used by natural dyers where the textile is bundled directly with the dye ingredients, making for a unique and eco-friendly way to create patterns on your fabrics.
This kit contains:
- One piece of pre-mordanted linen (a fat quarter)
- One piece of pre-mordanted cotton (a fat quarter)
- Dried Cochineal (dyes pink)
- Madder Root (dyes red/ orange)
- Dried coreopsis flowers (dyes yellow)
- Logwood Shavings (dyes blue) – Dust mask recommended
- Osage Orange Sawdust (dyes yellow) – Dust mask recommended
- Baking Soda (to create an alkaline environment for the logwood, read below for more details)
- String
- Gloves
- An access code to the online tutorial.
You will need to provide:
- A clean, waterproof surface to work on (or a table cover to protect your surface)
- An old pan with a lid (for safety reasons this cannot be a pan you use for preparing food)
- A steaming basket (again, separate from food use)
- Tongs or another tool for handling hot silk (separate from food use)
- A bowl or bucket big enough to soak the silk (separate from food use)
- You may like to source child sized protective gloves
- Dust mask
- Glad wrap (optional) to avoid cross contamination
Please note that all results will be unique and may appear quite different from the images provided. The journey of natural dyes is always an adventure, so expect the unexpected and be prepared to embrace serendipity!
A special thank you to Catherine Armstrong for being the first to test the fabric dye kit, and for a selection of the photographs included in this gallery.