Dyeing at the Rendezvous

While at the ten day long Rendezvous (where unfortunately we were the only ones besides the organizers that were camped out during the week) I had lots of time to wander around the beautiful land and was permitted to gather plants for a dyebath. Seeing an abundance of the fuzzy-leafed and statuesque mullein plant; I decided to give it a try. I had read from other's experiences that I might get a nice green if the fiber was mordanted with Alum (which mine was) and modified with iron (which I easily obtained in the form of a rusted spike from the blacksmith).

So all the plants were stripped of their lower leaves (not wanting to kill the plants) and I tore them up and simmered them for about an hour. Now this was a special experience for me in being more self-reliant. You might laugh at this, but I'm proud; this was the first fire I'd ever made by myself. Unlike most potters, I am not a pyro; in fact I'm a bit fearful of fire, so in the past I've always let those who enjoy playing with fire have their fun. This time, Elias was feeling poorly & taking a nap in the tent, so I was on my own.

I'll admit it: this first fire was started with a lighter & lamp oil soaked cardboard, but don't roll your eyes at me yet. After the plant material was done simmering the dyebath needed to be cooled enough for me to strain it; during which time the fire died out.

Then I had to add the pre-mordanted fiber & start the fire again. While cleaning out the ashes in preparing to make the new fire I found a tiny ember still glowing and added bark & small twigs while blowing gently on it.......and it worked! The flames were soon going again and the dyebath with fiber was gently simmered for another hour before being left to cool over night.

The resulting color wasn't really exciting, actually it looks better in the picture than it does in real life. I think I needed more iron, because you could see spots of a nice green where the fiber had laid against the rusty spike overnight but it wasn't quite enough to modify the color in the whole dyebath. It's not a bad color, just not very intense or exciting. The experience, though, was definitely worth it.




-Jayne