Dye experiments: Pokeweed
Aug. 21st, 2012 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzYesterday's post detailing the Goldenrod dye experiment was, to tell you the truth, not my first foray into plant dyes. I had previously tried the pokeweed from my garden, but that failed miserably. Time for another experiment now that the goldenrod yielded such marvelous results!
The pokeweed, in Dutch known as karmozijnbes, was a 'gift' from previous gardeners and it was growing rampant by the time we moved in. The berries were are very loved by birds, which is just a plant strategy of getting a lot of offspring. Any root not fully removed will sprout new branches. Of course, in stead of the 'western' pokeweed (also known as American pokeweed *) I have the eastern variety called Phytolacca esculenta.
The plant is poisenous except for new shoots not yet turning green. The berries are also less than healthy to eat, but the juice was used to make port look darker.
The berry juice runs vivid red/purple, and I was hoping to gain some sort of dye that looks like that.
Just for kicks, I started making my dye bath just as I was making dinner. Watch where you put the vinegar!
This time I went by the book. I measured 2 liters of water and half a liter of vinegar to go with the above bowl of berries. Later on, I realised my internet source spoke of using alum with berries, not vinegar.
The berries get to boiling. By the time we finish dinner and the episode of Stargate Atlantis, my dye bath is done. I remove the berries with a sieve and pour the dye bath into my copper kettle.
This is only a 2+ liter dye bath, so I will not be dyeing great lengths of fabric. After all, this was just a test to see if I can actually extract the pokeweed's dyes. I add a length of yarn Steelweaver had prepared, and squares of silk, wool and linen.
The dye bath was placed outside for the night and everything was left for some 12 hours.
Left: wool - top: silk - right: linen - Yarn: cotton.
The results! Less than enthusiastic about the colour of the cotton yarn and the wool seems to have not picked up more than a slight hint of dye. The linen looks pretty darn cool I must say. I would definitely wear hosen in that colour!
The silk is a darker shade than the linen and has a hint of brown in it, but to tell you the truth, this is exactly the same with the yellow I dyed with Steelweaver. Perhaps it's just a trait of this particular silk?
Mordant: vinegar
Concentration: 500 ml mordant, 2 liters of water, one bowl of berries
Dye temp: Cold
Dye time: 12 hours
Batch number: Primary batch from the dye bath
It's interesting to see how dyes react to different fabrics. Of course, this is all experimental. I am interested to see if wool will pick up this particular colour better if I used alum or another mordant than vinegar. I am also curious to see if the dye will get a darker shade if it had been a warm dye bath instead of a cold night soak. Maybe we'll see another time!
------
*) Cue puns about 'green cards'.
The pokeweed, in Dutch known as karmozijnbes, was a 'gift' from previous gardeners and it was growing rampant by the time we moved in. The berries were are very loved by birds, which is just a plant strategy of getting a lot of offspring. Any root not fully removed will sprout new branches. Of course, in stead of the 'western' pokeweed (also known as American pokeweed *) I have the eastern variety called Phytolacca esculenta.
The plant is poisenous except for new shoots not yet turning green. The berries are also less than healthy to eat, but the juice was used to make port look darker.
The berry juice runs vivid red/purple, and I was hoping to gain some sort of dye that looks like that.
Just for kicks, I started making my dye bath just as I was making dinner. Watch where you put the vinegar!
This time I went by the book. I measured 2 liters of water and half a liter of vinegar to go with the above bowl of berries. Later on, I realised my internet source spoke of using alum with berries, not vinegar.
The berries get to boiling. By the time we finish dinner and the episode of Stargate Atlantis, my dye bath is done. I remove the berries with a sieve and pour the dye bath into my copper kettle.
This is only a 2+ liter dye bath, so I will not be dyeing great lengths of fabric. After all, this was just a test to see if I can actually extract the pokeweed's dyes. I add a length of yarn Steelweaver had prepared, and squares of silk, wool and linen.
The dye bath was placed outside for the night and everything was left for some 12 hours.
Left: wool - top: silk - right: linen - Yarn: cotton.
The results! Less than enthusiastic about the colour of the cotton yarn and the wool seems to have not picked up more than a slight hint of dye. The linen looks pretty darn cool I must say. I would definitely wear hosen in that colour!
The silk is a darker shade than the linen and has a hint of brown in it, but to tell you the truth, this is exactly the same with the yellow I dyed with Steelweaver. Perhaps it's just a trait of this particular silk?
Mordant: vinegar
Concentration: 500 ml mordant, 2 liters of water, one bowl of berries
Dye temp: Cold
Dye time: 12 hours
Batch number: Primary batch from the dye bath
It's interesting to see how dyes react to different fabrics. Of course, this is all experimental. I am interested to see if wool will pick up this particular colour better if I used alum or another mordant than vinegar. I am also curious to see if the dye will get a darker shade if it had been a warm dye bath instead of a cold night soak. Maybe we'll see another time!
------
*) Cue puns about 'green cards'.
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no subject
Date: 2012-08-22 07:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-22 10:11 am (UTC)The yarn looks nice too. It's very subtle.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-22 02:12 pm (UTC)I like the pink though, and I'm not a pink-kind-of-person.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-22 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-23 08:59 am (UTC)I've picked some Tansy this morning and as we type the flowers are simmering downstairs. I also kept the leaves apart for a different dye bath but I only have one large pan that I'm willing to use for this stuff. So the leaves will have to wait for a bit.
I'll have to start labeling the bottles that I'm using to store the dye water...
I've cut all the pattern pieces of the dress I'm making, so now I have scraps of linen left to try some dying. Perhaps tomorrow. :-)