Natural and Chemical Dyes

In the Fibers and Materials department at Tyler School of Art, I devoted a lot of my time in the Dye Lab. Resources for natural dyes, chemical MX dyes, and acid dyes are all available and waiting to be experimented with.

Below are pictures of some of the natural and chemical dye projects that I've made through playing with mordants, intensities, and fiber material.

I love to dye

Pomegranate dyed cotton with iron and alum mordants

VARIEGATED yarns

Bamboo Tencel, Mohair, and Cotton yarn

Bamboo dyed with MX dyes and natural dyes (logwood, madder root, weld)
Mohair dyed with madder root
Cotton dyed with indigo

About 150g per skein

Knit Panel

Bamboo Tencel, Mohair, and Cotton yarn

20in x 15in

Playing around with yarn types and combinations of color. Rothko inspired

Madder Root Process

Dyeing Protein Fiber

After sitting in an alum mordant for 1.5 hours and making my own madder root extract bath, I was able to achieve this deep bright red.

Time

Dyeing Protein Fiber

Color after 2 hours in the madder root and a 5 minute dip in an iron bath.

Next Steps

Dyeing Protein Fiber

Next Steps

Put on the swift after drying to wind the skeins into cakes. Next step is to knit or weave.

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