Grow extra marigolds in your garden this summer for natural dyeing! This post shows you step by step how to make dye with marigolds.
Marvelous Marigolds
Marigolds are an annual herb in the Aster family with a native range that stretches from the Southwestern US to South America.
The Aztec or Mexican Marigold (Tagetes erecta) is the most commonly grown ornamental and vegetable garden marigold in the US, notable for their classic bright orange to yellow sunburst blooms.
With proper drying, these beautiful blooms can retain their rich orange and yellow color for months, making them prized for ceremonial use throughout the marigold's native territories and in India.
Dyeing with Marigold
Okay I'm not going to lie to you there are a few not hard, but slightly annoying steps you need to take if you want to make the color last. But if you don't mind if it fades and you just want to try dyeing without too many steps or supplies, I've indicated an "easy way" that you can follow.
Before we get into these instructions, I feel it is important to say that I started natural dyeing like most passionate dyers, by wildly putting plants and fibers into pots with water and seeing what happened. No weights, no consistency, just joy in the dyeing process. It is so much fun and I highly recommend it (with safety precautions in mind). So, do this method below, don't do this method, what's important is enjoying the process.
Marigold Dyeing
Harvest
Gather 15-20 marigold flowers. I like to let mine sit outside in the shade for a bit as there are usually some bugs (especially earwigs for some reason) that crawl their way out of there.
Make your Dye
Add your marigolds to a fresh pot of water 2/3 full and simmer until the color is a deep yellow.
If you want a deeper orange/orangey-red color, add baking soda until you see the color change.
Let the mixture cool then strain the flowers (I usually strain it into another pot that I'll ultimately put my fiber in).
3. Easy Way (that fades)
a) Just get your fabric or fibers very wet in warm water. Your wool or fabric should be saturated but not sopping.
b) Add wet fabric to your cooled dye and put on the stove to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.
c) Allow your fabric to fully dry hung in a shaded place. Then gently wash by hand, with cold water and pH neutral soap, if you have it.
d) Yay! You just dyed with marigolds.
3. Moderate Way (that stays)
a) Add your fiber/fabric to a pot and fill 2/3 full with hot but not scalding water. Add a small splash of pH-neutral dish soap (roughly 3% of the weight of the fiber). Let this soak for about an hour. Rinse well. This removes any lingering oils and waxes that would impede the dye.
Mordant Your Fibers
a) Fill a pot 2/3s full with water and add Alum Mordant (Aluminum Potassium Phosphate) at 10% of the weight of the fiber/fabric. If you don't have a scale and you're working with a standard large kitchen sized pot, just estimate on the order of teaspoons to tablespoons of alum powder. Mix until fully dissolved, take care not to breathe dust.
i. * You can get a pound of alum mordant for about $12-15 dollars online. Mine has lasted me forever.
b) Add fiber/fabric to the pot and simmer for 2 hours and let cool in the water.
c) Rinse your mordanted fiber/fabric in cool water.
d) Add mordanted fabric to your cooled dye and put on the stove to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.
e) Allow your dyed fabric to fully dry, hung up in a shaded place. Then wash by hand, with cold water and pH neutral soap, if you have it. Some folks just rinse the fabrics right out of the dye vat, then dry.
f) Yay! You dyed with marigolds! And because you took some extra steps, the color will last longer. Despite mordanting, naturally-dyed fabrics don't last in the sun. Keeping your dyed fabrics out of prolonged direct sunlight keeps your colors bright and true-to-dye for longer.
For more fiber natural dye project examples go to www.allysonmakuchart.shop/folkway-fibers
Watch the Process
Final Thoughts
The marigold's bright blooms have long been associated with the sun, so I hope your dyed fabrics make you feel bring joy and warmth to your spirit in these painful times. I know I'm not alone when I say that my heart is heavy with war, and with continued injustice perpetuated abroad and right in our neighborhoods. I've linked the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund here if you are called and able to donate.
Sending warmth and belief in a brighter, more just future,
Ally
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