Yin and Yang of Natural Dyeing

By Doris Florig

During the Back to the Land Days of the 70's, I spent four years living in northern Ontario. Natural was the way of life, so there was no consideration of using other dye methods. I would spend days wondering though the wide open abandoned farm fields, learning to identify flowers and collecting plants. Upon filling a four gallon bucket, I would return to my outdoor fire pit, simmer the wool in the mordant, steep the plant fibers and watch the colors appear. It was always satisfying to see the results, but the greatest pleasure came from the entire outdoor experience.

As the 70's progressed and I returned to the US, my days of natural dyeing kind of faded away along with the back to the land lifestyle. Settling into Vermont, which was a more populated area, I began to look at wild flowers as something that should be left for everyone to enjoy. My direction in design had shifted to the abstract, I needed a brighter palette of color. I gave natural dyes one more chance, when I read that lichens produce a purple. After scraping off an area of rock, to colleting the lichens, I went back to the house and began reading the dye recipe. The instructions pointed out that it takes 50 years for the lichens to grow back. At that point I knew my natural dye days were over.

I became committed to the sole use of fiber re-active dyes. The color intensity, the ease of mixing any desired color and the quality of fastness had me convinced. At least until after this summer [2007] when I moved to my new home in Wyoming. Many plants I had used for dye stuff years ago, are now considered invasive and need to be eradicated, therefore, natural dyeing would be beneficial to the environment.

With that thought in mind, I headed off to spend the winter sailing to the Bahamas.

I provisioned the boat with pounds and pounds of yarn to weave for my exhibit AQUAMARINE LIVING, which will be hung at the Florida Aquarium during Convergence [2008]. My return to natural dyes began, when I realized that had no brown yarn onboard. With no access to commercial yarn, I pulled out a box of black tea, simmered away until the desired brown yarn appeared.

Now, I have come full circle. In the future, I will be more opened minded and take advantage of the benefits of both chemical and natural dyes.