You Can Grow a Dye Garden
Plant, harvest, and prepare natural colors for fabricsWhile visiting a nursery one early spring day, fashion student Libby Muth began collecting the many colorful blossoms that had fallen to the plant center’s floor. Could I do something with these beautiful spent flowers, she wondered? The question eventually led her to experiment with flowers and plants to create natural dyes for fabrics. Her effort included harvesting from a natural dye garden at her school.
You, too, can grow plants in your back yard or in a container garden to harvest and produce dyes for natural fabrics and garments. Whether you dabble in this practice or become a full-fledged devotee like Muth, you will need a few basic supplies plus some time and patience to watch the garden grow and then create the dyes.
Why cultivate living color?
Many natural dyers prefer the subtle, harmonious colors they extract from plants to those produced by synthetic dyes. They enjoy gardening and their connection to the earth. Some also use plant dyes in response to repeated warnings from environmentalists and findings from such institutions as the United Nations Environment Programme about how chemically made textile dyes continue to pollute water sources and the land, and, ultimately, to affect humans.
Whether it’s curiosity, creativity, or concern for the environment and themselves, natural dye gardeners are growing in numbers. Some plant and seed providers have taken the guesswork out of choosing plants that thrive in your region by offering seed kits or selections specifically for dyeing. For examples, check out Grand Prismatic Seed, Hudson Valley Seed Company, Strictly Medicinal Seeds, and The Woolery.
Benefits to extracting and using dyes
Once you grow and harvest the dye plants, it’s time to extract the dye and color your fabric. This part of the process is more of an art than a science, and…
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