Natural dyeing with cosmos and coreopsis
Flowers from my garden… will they dye?! Well, yes, that’s why I planted them! Let’s see what colors they reveal.
For more information about my Will it dye? project and procedures, see Experiments in Natural Dyeing.
Dried Coreopsis Flowers
My coreopsis flowers came in a mystery manila envelope from Fibershed. They appear to be Plains Coreopsis, aka Coreopsis tinctoria. “Tinctoria” in a plant name is a great thing for color-seekers: it means “used for dyeing.”
I grew these plants from seed this spring and harvested them by hand. They were thoroughly dried before dyeing.
These little blossoms were jam-packed with color! I dyed on combed cotton at 50% WOF, then did two exhaust baths. I could have kept going. Such a lovely rusty orange. Very fall.
Dried Orange Cosmos (Diablo and Tango)
My garden was full of orange this year! I grew a few types of orange cosmos: Diablo (an old Botanical Interests seed packet from the Santa Clara Master Gardeners) and Tango (from Grand Prismatic Seed). Similar to the coreopsis, I harvested them by hand and air dried them before dyeing.
Another orange, but a different shade than the coreopsis. I dyed on combed cotton at 50% WOF, then did one exhaust bath.
Fresh Purple Cosmos (Sensation)
I received another Cosmos seed packet from the Santa Clara Master Gardeners: Sensation. I later learned that this variety typically isn’t grown for dyeing. But let’s see if the purple blossoms give me any color.
I filled my pot with fresh blossoms. Surprise, the fabric came out yellow! I did one dye bath, one exhaust bath, both on premium muslin. Interestingly, the exhaust bath was the darker of the two. Since the fabric was from my scrap basket, it’s possible they were two different shades of muslin (natural or bleached) and/or were prepared with different tannins.
(Note: I have some extra dried cosmos and coreopsis flowers available in my store at fibercuriousclub.etsy.com! Use the code WILLITDYE for free standard shipping on orders over $30.)
Year of Stories recent read: Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam