On Period Dyeing. Part Two.

I've been a fiber arts geek for as long as I can remember.  Textiles have always intrigued me.  How to make them; to dye them; to recycle them; to wear them; to use them; to see the art in them (e.g. historically or haute couture) to build them....this list could go on ad nauseam.


One thing I've always been interested in is the dyeing of fibers in all of the ways from ancient to modern. My mother has always been so kind.  She allowed all kinds of dyeing experiments in my home to the tune of several ruined copper pots and battered plants. 


So yesterday - I ripped apart my shop to find all of my Elizabethan color theory.  Primarily...why I use the eggshells to dye clothing.  I'd been doing it so long - I no longer had an organic chemistry basis in fact or even in recollection.


In respect of the lovely organic cage free wonder creatures, I decided nothing would do but I had to find the reason.


Here's what I got for those of you playing Fiber Enthusiast at home [with citations since this is research and not me, Lord knows]:

"Discarded eggshells are often used as a plant fertilizer and are effective liming sources. This is because eggshells contain calcium that raises, or neutralizes, the pH level of overly acidic soil. Chicken eggshells can be used as an alternative soil stabilizer like lime since they have the same chemical composition.

Eggshell membrane consists of collagen as a component. Collagen is a type of protein, fibrous in nature that connects and supports other bodily tissues, such as skin, bone, tendons, muscles and cartilage. Collagen has been isolated mainly from bovine and swine skins and bones Collagen used in medicine, biochemical, pharmaceutical, food and cosmetics industries.

Eggshell membrane collagen is very low in autoimmune and allergic reactions as well as high in bio-safety and is of similar characteristics to other mammalian collagen.

Eggshells/shell membranes have multiple uses in nutrition, medicine, construction and art works"

[International Journal of Poultry Science]

Yes.  Apparently, there is an International Journal of Poultry Science. LOL


 Fascinating.  I then, found this:

"Brazilwood:
Origin and History: Brazilwood dye comes from the Caesalpinia tree, and was named "brazil" even before the discovery of that country. In its natural state, brazilwood is a light, brownish red; mahogany in appearance. It is sold nowadays in blocks or chips, and sometimes in scrapings or shavings (as of 1960s).

In the Middle Ages it was always sold in blocks, and the craftsman was obliged to reduce the solid wood to powder by scraping it with a piece of glass, or filing or pounding, as the finer the powder the more easily the color can be extracted from it.

Making the Pigment: When the brownish powder of brazilwood is wet it turns reddish. When steeped in a solution of lye it colors the liquid deep, purplish red, and hot solutions of alum extract the color from the wood in the form of an orange-red liquor. Most medieval brazil lakes were made either from the extract made with lye (a weak solution of potassium carbonate) or from the alum extract, as these solutions get the color out of the wood more thoroughly than plain water. Just what the shade is that is extracted depends on how acid or alkaline the mixture of solutions is made. The more alum: the warmer the color, the more lye: the colder the red. The precipitate is collected by settling and pouring off the liquid.

The pasty mass is smeared on an absorbent surface such as a new brick or tile to dry. Then it is ground, and has the same degree of transparency as the alumina of which it is chiefly composed. When chalk is added to the alum, a more opaque pink rose is produced by the resulting admixture of calcium sulphate to the alumina lake. When white lead was used, it had no other effect than to give substance to the lake and slightly less transparency, rather than to make it opaque.

When marble dust and powdered egg shells were added to newly formed lakes, they further controlled the color produced by reacting chemically with any excess of alum which might give a brown cast instead of rose. In all these cases the brazil color was mordanted upon the white material, so to speak, dyed with the brazil, and the pigment so formed was different from a mixture of a finished lake with a white pigment.

Artistic Notes: Brazil lakes are not very permanent.  

[Pigments:  Historical, Chemical and Artistic Importance of Coloring Agents]

 I'll investigate further.  LOL

On Period Dyeing. Part One

Period dyeing is similar to natural dyeing....for those of you not in the know. Natural dyeing has been made very easily accessible because of the recent upswing in the vegan lifestyle choices.

Subsequently, it is my vegan clients who have challenged me to be a bit more green and get back to doing research on period dyeing. So this I share with my Elizabethan Costuming community.

Vegan – no use of any animal byproduct whatsoever. Vegetarian is a little more flexible but I've broken down the recipes thus (* marks non-vegan dyeing products):

Colors:


The colors that are easiest to achieve are pink, salmon, goldenrod, saffron, wheat and sage, burnt orange and bright orange.

Goldenrod Plants = Goldenrod Color
Zinnias and Marigold Flowers= Sort of light orange
Madder root = deep orange/burned orange
Onion skins, cabbage and black walnuts = saffron
Beets=pink and mauve
Berries = purple hues
*Wine – color of same
Coffee – color of same
Tea – color of same
*Eggshells = ecru

Black walnuts = dark brown
Cabbage and onion skins = pale yellow gold 

Fiddle Ferns = bright green


Black Walnuts - One of the very best browns comes from the husks of black walnuts. This is a multi-purpose project, as you can eat the nuts and use the husks for dye. Walnut husks produce a substantive dye, which means that you will not need to use a mordant to make it permanent. Brown from black walnuts is very light-fast and will not fade over time. (Wear gloves when dealing with walnuts...they will dye your hands brown)


With most of these, you have to boil them for a time in order to extract the solution with which you intend to dye.


I do have a ton of vegan clients who like my linen and cotton veggie dyed handbags....and these techniques and colors are all pretty easy to do, generally.

That being said: I call all of this Natural dyeing, but make sure you exclude things like silk, wool and the eggshells if you have a vegan client.

I have one gigantic army issue stock pot and a hot plate. That's all. It is time consuming...and heavy. LOL. So...invite a friend if you have other stuff you want to do whilst awaiting the proverbial pot and boiling water fun.


Fiber fixative for all plants that exclude berries: ½ cup salt to 8 cups of water and either alum and tartaric acid or soda ash will work. (I use soda ash because, as I came to find out the drug store alum is not the same thing and if you use it, you too will be a super sad panda) Boil the water, salt and soda ash together.

If you're using berries as a base, add ½ cup vinegar to ever eight cups of water you have.

Typically when doing wool, for example, I get two yards more than what I need in white or offwhite. I boil the wool in the extracted color. Rinse the fabric until the water runs clear and then boil it once more in the fixative.

It is time consuming...but if you're interested in a vegan outcome or....historically accurate outcome...this way is the tops.

OH. STOP. Don't throw out that dye. The natural dyes will dye as much fabric as any other dye...sometimes more....the dye will dye until it can dye no more. LOL.

Enjoy!

Research research research research research.......

So. Excited.  I was literally frozen to my computer today trying to get some research done.  And Now?  I want to sew THE EVERYTHING.

I WANT TO SEW ALL THE THINGS.

I'm trying to focus on one project at a time.