Blueberry Dye experiment

Continuing my dyeing experiments, I visited my beloved local Trader Joe's on Monday night, where I purchased 2 bags of frozen berries. Here are the results of mixing half a bag of frozen blueberries and a bit of vinegar.

More precisely, I let the berries boil in water, added the fabric and some vinegar as mordant, then let the whole mix simmer for an hour (with a lid on!). I let the fabric sit in the blueberry mush overnight, and removed it the following morning. I gently washed the fabric to remove any excess dye, and ironed it to heat set the dye. Above is the result.

While this fabric has a pinkish cast, I can still see the blue origins in the color. It is definitely darker than the purple onion skin. I'm having so much fun with this project!

Natural Dye Experiments

Last Saturday, I taught another Extraordinary Embroidery (intro) class at 3rd Ward. As usual, I had a great group of students, including 3 women visiting from France, and a book artist, Rebecca Kelly, who brought in some fabrics dyed with natural dyes (walnut, berries). Her work and passion for dyeing inspired me to try it myself. 

As I write this, an antique swatch with a lace border is simmering in a bed of mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) with some rice vinegar as mordant.

Pictured below is fabric dyed with purple onion skin and rice vinegar mordant. Also pictured is the first embroidered tweet made from the onion skin-dyed fabric.

Purple onion skin-dyed fabric

"My heart is a tuning fork, and it's calling you in, my one true love."