Natural Dyeing Tips for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started
- Words by Peppermint
Part experiment, part craft activity, the magical process of natural dyeing is a fun way to freshen up old wardrobe faves and reconnect with nature in the process. The brainchild of Katie Wilkins, Studio Tinta is a natural dye studio creating sustainable textiles using botanical dyes and natural fibres. With a range of made-to-order silk pillowcases, eye masks and scrunchies, each Studio Tinta piece is manufactured in Melbourne then hand-dyed in Newcastle in a zero-waste process with compostable packing!
Drawing colours from natural materials, Katie is now on a mission to make the creative process of natural dyeing accessible to everyone. Her latest venture is an online Natural Dye School, teaching participants how to make vibrant dyes from her extensive recipe collection before applying them to fabric to create unique, multi-coloured patterns. Enrolments for the course are open now so why not sign up today for fun winter projects galore!
Before you get started though, Katie has provided us with a nifty beginner’s guide to natural dyeing so you can live to dye another day.
INTRODUCTION
Natural dyeing is not only fun (and addictive!), but it’s an amazing way to breathe new life into your old textiles. Rather than throwing out your stained white tees or your old sheets, you can make them new again using plants you can find in your own environment. Each colour and pattern is completely unique, and you’ll end up with creations you’ll treasure for years to come. It’s a sustainable and affordable way to update your home and wardrobe.
This guide is designed as an introduction give you an overview of how natural dyes work and how you can make them at home from things you find in your pantry, scraps from your kitchen and plants in your garden. I hope this is the start of lots of fun experiments with natural colour.
EQUIPMENT
There are a few essential items needed to start dyeing at home. For safety reasons, you shouldn’t use your cooking pots for dyeing unless you are only using edible dye plants. You can find perfect dyeing equipment at your local secondhand store.
– Stainless steel pot
– Stainless steel tongs
– Stainless steel strainer
– Plastic bucket or tub
– Rubber gloves
– Stainless steel/wooden pegs
FIBRES
CELLULOSE FIBRES
Cellulose fibres, or plant fibres, are made from plants. These include fabrics like cotton, linen, hemp and bamboo. These fabrics are the most appropriate for vegans, as synthetic fibres aren’t recommended for natural dyes.
ANIMAL FIBRES
Animal fibres, or protein fibres, have different molecular structures to fibres made from plants. These most commonly include silk and wool. These fibres have a natural affinity for natural dyes and are great for beginners.
MORDANTS
The word mordant comes from the French verb ‘mordre’, meaning ‘to bite’. In other words, a mordant is a substance used to help the dye ‘bite’ or bind to the fibre. A mordant helps you achieve colours that are brighter, deeper and more colourfast. The most common mordants include metal salts such as aluminium or iron, or natural mordants made from plants high in tannin, such as oak galls, or oxalic acid such as rhubarb leaves.
Mordants you can purchase:
– Aluminium acetate
– Aluminium sulphate
– Ferrous Sulphate
– Tannin
Mordants you can make at home:
– Iron water using rusty objects
– Soy milk binder
– Mordant from rhubarb leaves
– Mordant from dyes high in tannin
To learn more, sign up to hear more about the online Natural Dye School and you’ll receive the free Natural Dyeing For Beginners e-book! Thanks to the lovely team at Studio Tinta, we’re also stoked to be able to offer our gorgeous Peppermint community an exclusive discount of 10% off the course price! Sign up today using the code Peppermint10 – valid until 30 June 2021.
photos ZOE LONGERGAN
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On the 14th of April 2013 the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed, tragically killing 1134 workers and injuring over 2,500 more.
Every year we commemorate this devastating and avoidable loss of life and advocate for better working conditions for all during Fashion Revolution Week, which runs from 22nd-28th April in 2026.
This year there are different themes for each day of the week, with the annual Mend In Public day falling right in the middle, on Saturday 25th April.
This is your cue to gather your community, settle in and commit some time, attention and creativity to mending your clothes in the pursuit of extending their life in your wardrobe. Be it patching, embroidery, sewing or stitching, there are many ways to resolve structural and aesthetic issues in your garments that will see you donning them for years to come!
If it’s a bit tricky to get mending on the day itself (it will be ANZAC Day here in Australia) then fear not. Any time is the right time for mending so if you need to take needle in hand on another day that will do just fine!
Comment below if you know of any events you`d like to share happening in your community.
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From @CinnamonDaisyStudio:
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When @Laura_The_Maker reached out to me last year to ask if I’d be interested in being featured in @PeppermintMagazine I didn’t hold back. I 100% fan girled 🤣 it was obviously a yes!
Getting to talk about the positive impact sewing your own clothes has on your body image is the BEST. I started sewing my own clothes because the standard doesn’t fit me. But I wasn’t expecting to heal my body image at the same time. What a wonderful byproduct ❤️🩹
So this is just a reminder to you to go for your big dreams! They might just work out ❤️
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Our lovely community manager Em, runs us through the offer.
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Generous, messy, creative, spiky, warm, enigmatic… our best friends come in many flavours. But they all have one thing in common: they make the world a far better, more interesting place to be.
Inspired by Sam and Sadie’s complicated ‘forever’ bond in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by @GabrielleZevin (a firm Peppermint fave ‘friendy’ read), we’ve rounded up some iconic fictional duos from books, movies and TV - the ride-or-dies, bosom buddies, chosen family, the ‘you’re-my-person’ people.
They all remind us that the non-romantic kind of love is always worth the effort (and it’s often the kind that lasts!). Think Anne Shirley and Diana Barry, Calvin and Hobbes, Snoopy and Woodstock, Eloise and Penelope… Head to the link in bio to read the full story and meet them all!
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Because as Sadie tells Sam: true collaborators in life are rare. And very much worth celebrating.
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Mother`s Day Chocolate Treats Subscription Special! 🌟
It`s almost time to celebrate that special person in your life who has motherly energy – mum, aunty, single parent, queer parent, grandparent, caregiver... or maybe just someone who happens to love getting chocolate treats (and hey, maybe that someone is YOU!).
This very sweet subscription offer comes with some glorious goodies, thanks to our friends at @TheOriginalCocoaTradersCo!
SUBSCRIBE FOR $79 AND RECEIVE:
🌟 1 x 12-month Peppermint Subscription
PLUS!
🌟 Vegan, gluten-free, 43% cocoa, Certified-Organic Taming The Jackalope Drinking Chocolate from @TheOriginalCocoaTradersCo
🌟 Vegan, gluten-free, 70% cocoa, Certified-Organic Ship To Wreck Chocolate Flakes from @TheOriginalCocoaTradersCo
🌟 Issue 64 (includes a free code for the #PeppermintDaisyDress digital sewing pattern!)
🌟 A5 art card of our exclusive ‘Together We Rise’ Issue 60 cover design by @LukeJohnMatthewArnold
🌟 All wrapped in fabric from @DoopsDesigns
Price includes postage! This special offer is available to Australian addresses only. Don`t miss out – there`s limited numbers!
🌟 Link in bio 🌟
#PeppermintMagazine #MothersDay
