13 Easy Plant-Based Dyes from Fall Garden Materials
Natural dyes are both creative and sustainable, and you can make many of them from things you grow in your fall garden. Gardening expert Melissa Strauss explains how to do it, and which materials make the colors we love.
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Natural plant-based dyes offer a sustainable and artistic way to add color to fabric. You can often use resources that are already available in the fall garden. Unlike synthetic, chemical dyes, fall plant-based dyes come from everyday plants that grow in your garden.
The process of using plant-based dyes in fall is both eco-friendly and creative. The colors achieved can range from golden yellows and earthy browns to soft pinks and deep purples. It all depends on the plant material and the use of mordants like alum or vinegar. These help fix the dye to the fabric.
Working with fall plant-based dye is also a new way to connect us with nature. There are many materials in the fall garden that you can utilize. The results of using plant-based dyes are rarely uniform. This gives each dyed piece a unique, organic character. Each piece has its own personality that doesn’t happen with commercial dying.
Harvesting materials from the fall garden often results in a wide range of warm, cozy colors. Seasonal shifts, along with the water and additives, create beautiful and interesting variations. It’s fun to play around with various materials for this effect.
How to Do It
Using natural dyes takes a bit more planning than using the store-bought kind. Your colors may be more muted than they would be with commercial dyes, but that is what you would probably expect. Those muted shades can be quite beautiful. Here’s how to do it:
Prepare the Fabric
Before you get started on the dyes themselves, wash your fabric. Whether it’s new or a garment you’ve owned for years, washing it is important. A good way to get the best result is to wash with a mordant of some kind. They help to fix the color. Some of the more common mordants include: alum, iron, copper, tin, tannins, cream or tartar, soda ash, and vinegar. Leave the fabric damp.
*Just a note, natural fibers take dye much better than synthetics, which tend to repel dyes.
Make a Dye Bath
Chop or crush the plant material that you’ve chosen. Simmer it in a non-reactive (stainless steel or enamel) pot with enough water to cover the fabric you’re using. Simmer for 30 to 60 minutes until the water darkens. The longer you heat it, the deeper the color. Strain out the solid particles.
Dye the Fabric
Place the damp fabric in the dye bath and simmer for an additional 30 to 60 minutes. Stir occasionally for even coverage. If you want extra deep tones, leave the fabric in the water and allow it to cool. You can do this for a few hours or a full day, depending on the color you desire.
Rinse and Dry
Rinse the remaining dye from the fabric using cool water. Continue to rinse until the water runs clear. Then, hang your items to dry, out of direct sunlight, which can fade them.
Yellow and Orange
Yellow is one of the most common natural dye colors, and it’s especially prevalent in the fall garden. Depending on the plant and the mordant, you can achieve many shades of yellow from a buttery cream to deep gold.
Turmeric root is one of the best materials to use for making yellow or orange fall plant-based dye. These tuberous roots are perfect for fall harvesting, as this is when they mature. The shade it produces depends on the variety, with some producing a brilliant golden yellow, all the way to a deep rusty orange.
Turmeric containers curcumin, a compound that creates that intense color. Use alum or vinegar to intensify the color and make it bind better. Sadly, turmeric dye is less lightfast than other dyes, so it tends to fade in the sun. Baking soda is useful for making it last longer.
Marigolds are a classic choice for making fall plant-based dye. Their brilliant petals produce warm shades of yellow and orange, and even some bordering on red. You can use both fresh and dried petals to produce the dye.
Natural fibers take marigold dye excellently. You can use alum as a mordant, but even without it, you can get a great result from this plant. You can add iron to create a deep olive green. These flowers are easy to grow and bloom until the first frost.
Finally, goldenrod is an excellent fall-blooming plant that produces a vibrant yellow dye. The flowers contain a lot of flavonoid pigments, which release easily into water. Harvest goldenrod during peak bloom to achieve the best color. You can use the flowers fresh or dried, but fresh will be brighter. This is a long-lasting fall plant-based dye.
Red and Pink
Red is a highly sought-after dye color, and there are a number of plants that produce it. The different materials yield shades from soft pink to rich, deep crimson. Here are a few materials you can use in the fall garden to make a red plant-based dye.
Red hibiscus flowers make a nice dye that is typically fuchsia or soft reddish purple. The petals from many varieties contain anthocyanins, which are water-soluble, making this an easy dye to produce. Fresh or dried petals will work. These pigments tend to fade faster than some others.
Beets are excellent for producing red fall plant-based dye. They contain betalain pigments, which dissolve well in water and leave an intense stain. Wool and silk absorb beet dye best, while cotton and linen will take on a lighter pink shade. An acidic bath will create the best color (citric acid works well).
Red cabbage is a lovely fall garden vegetable that you can make a wide range of dye colors with. It contains plenty of anthocyanins, and depending on the pH of the water, they can produce pink, red, or purple tones.
On its own, red cabbage will produce a soft lavender shade. Add vinegar to create an acidic pH for a shift toward red, while baking soda shifts it toward blue or even green. Animal fibers take this dye best.
Blue and Purple
Blue is tricky, but when it’s done well, it’s one of the most stunning colors to achieve. Blue doesn’t come from a wide range of plants, so it’s a bit more difficult to come by. Unfortunately, the best blues come from the flowers of the indigo plant, and that blooms in late spring.
In the fall, you can use berries to produce blue dyes. You can again use red cabbage with an alkaline modifier like baking soda. Blueberries and elderberries also produce blue and purple tones, though they tend to fade faster. Alum is useful as a mordant with berry-based dyes.
Green
Green is not as simple as it seems it would be. Although there are plenty of green plants, few of them produce lasting dyes. Fortunately, leafy greens are common in the garden, and some of these make decent fall plant-based dyes.
Spinach is nice for creating a soft, yellow-green shade, as it has a high chlorophyll content. It’s not known for being a long-lasting color, and will fade with sunlight and washing. It’s not going to achieve a vivid green, but it will create a nice earthy color.
Parsley is another plant that you might have in your fall garden, and you can use it to make green dye as well. It’s similar to spinach in terms of the color it produces, a light green that leans toward olive is typical.
Nettles are common weeds and are one of the better materials for creating green dye. They contain more chlorophyll and tannins than many plants, which makes the color hold longer. They also have a nice history in plant-based dyes. An alkaline bath will produce richer olive tones.
Brown
Brown is an easy and reliable color to make when it comes to fall plant-based dyes. Some of the best materials show up in the fall garden. Brown tones come from tannins, and many plant materials contain them.
Acorns and the bark from oak trees are a wonderful source of tannins, and they make a strong dye. You can achieve shades of earthy beige, warm brown, and even some deep grays with these plant materials. Acorn dye is long-lasting and holds up well to light.
Walnut hulls are a classic material for making the best brown dye. They are rich in tannins and highly colorfast; they take hold quickly. They produce deep, earthy brown shades and don’t require any mordants. You can still use a mordant, though, if you want an even richer tone.
Use walnut hulls to make a fall plant-based dye that creates shades of warm brown, chocolate, and sepia. If you combine this dye with iron, it will produce black!
