Wether you're doing it to have more control over the color process when working with your favorite yarn, working on a capsule wardrobe you've dyed and designed yourself, find yourself intrigued by the scientific portions of the process, or just want to have some fun this summer making a mess of color, this course is for you. I've designed it for the beginner and have built lessons around projects you'll love. Work your way through at your own pace and enjoy the magic of extracting color!
After this course, you'll be driving down the road this summer so full of curiosity over what colors you can extract from each field of wildflowers, you'll miss your exit.
Supplies Needed
Your e-course purchase does not include supplies, dyes, or fibers. However, you may find three affordable dye kits in my shop that I designed to compliment this course. Should they sell out on occasion, you can sign up for my newsletter to be notified when they'll become available again. Each lesson in the course shares a specific dye recipe for the project but you have total freedom to use your own favorite dyes.
Basic Supplies
- three stainless steel pots
- two stainless steel stirring spoons
- access to a stovetop or outdoor stove
- access to water
- measuring spoons
- dye extracts
- fibers
- drying rack or clothesline
Learning to dye with plants unlocks your curiosity about the natural world in such a beautiful way.
Rachel Denbow, Fiber Artist
My first few experiences with natural dyes during my formative years left me unimpressed. Faded primary colors and muddy hues didn't light me up so I categorized it as something only hippes with nothing better to do gave their attention. Ha! I think I'm a hippy now!
In 2016 I came up on two books by fiber artists I admire with years of dye knowledge under their belt. Sasha Duerr and Kristen Vejar introduced me to the intense colors available from botanical specimens across the country and I was instantly obsessed. I spent the first year using their books as jumping off points for my own experimentations as I grew familiar with the dye process and plant colors. I started dyeing my own skeins of yarn to use in my woven work and quickly found my favorite shades of yellow from Queen Anne's Lace and Goldenrod while exploring every pink available from avocado pits and skins, madder root, cochineal, and brazilwood.
2017 and 2018 have been spent honing my new craft, educating others through workshops, developing products to sell in my shop, and creating this e-course for you! I've used my background in teaching, over 12 years of experience writing e-courses, authoring a book, and sharing DIY's through A Beautiful Mess to create a course I'm so proud to present to you. It's my hope you become equally as fascinated with what colors you find as you forage through fields of wildflowers, wander your grocery store produce aisles, or grow your own dye garden. There's wild color out there waiting for you to find it!
-Rachel
Included in Foraged Color
Lesson One: Dye Stuffs and Supplies
Lesson Two: Protein and Cellulose Fibers
Lesson Three: Preparing Fibers to Dye
Lesson Four: Dye Process
Lesson Five: Alchemy
Lesson Six: Solar and Cold Dyeing
Lesson Seven: Storage
Lesson Eight: Cotton Market Tote
Lesson Nine: Wool Door Tassel
Lesson Ten: Dyeing with Food Waste on Silk and Velvet
Lesson Eleven: Tonal Silk Ribbons
Lesson Twelve: Linen Envelope Pillow Cases
Lesson Thirteen: Knitted Wool Blanket from Speckled Yarn
Lesson Fourteen: Shibori and Solid Cotton Shirts
Lesson Fifteen: Over Dyed Linen Napkins and Throw
Lesson Sixteen: Dye Notebook DIY
Lesson Seventeen: Drying Rack DIY
Lesson Eighteen: Color Chart (WIP)
Foraged Color: Dyeing with Plants, $38
This course was written in three parts.- The first seven lessons are mostly educational and involve all the information you need to understand what you'll need to get started, the difference between plant and animal fibers, preparing your fiber, dyeing, adjusting pH, alternate forms of dyeing, and storage.
- The next eight lessons are project based so you can practice what you're learning on a beautiful end result. There are two dye projects per fiber as well as techniques you can try out on any of the projects offered.
- The last section contains two bonus DIY projects for your dyeing journey as well as a WIP color chart for reference. This means I'll keep adding to it as I run my own experiments!
- It covers everything I teach in my natural dye workshops (a $150 value) but goes more in depth than a 3 hr workshop would ever allow. Plus exclusive projects to get your dye journey well underway!
A $300 value!