Dyeing with Natural Dyes
updated November 26, 2022

Recorded here is my own personal collection of articles, resources, favorite links, teaching ideas, and lesson plans. It encompasses many years, from the very beginning of my experience studying and learning about Waldorf to the present time. People from all around the world visit my site and recommend it to others. Welcome!

This site records my journey. I hope my honesty is encouraging and helps break down some barriers that may prevent people from trying Waldorf methods. Because this is an ongoing site documenting my curriculum planning and ideas, some materials are more Waldorf-y than others. Please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.

This page has helpful links and LOADS of free resources to help you plan your seventh grade year. Enjoy!

Although dyeing is often touched upon in the lower grades starting even in Kindergarten using simple methods (sun jar, crockpot), and can logically fall in Third Grade Fibers & Clothing or Fifth/Sixth Grade Botany, I think this is the best time to do a deep and sustained exploration of it.

After all, Seventh Grade is when students learn Chemistry and Ratios, both absolutely necessary for dyeing in a serious way! If you don't have time to give it its own block, I would suggest doing these activities as part of your study of Ratios in Math.

Pinterest - Renee Schwartz
My curated collection of visuals! Browse sample main lesson book pages, watercolor paintings, chalkboard drawings, etc. for Natural Dyes.

Right now I'm just collecting links as I find them. Enjoy!

Articles

Mordants and Fixatives
allnaturaldyeing.com

Avocado Dye FAQs & Top Tips for Pink
Rebecca Desnos

How to Make a Soy Milk Mordant
Caitlin Irwin

Ingredients

iron filings


indigo shibori kit


logwood powder


cochineal

Things I Want to Try:

rusty nails
cochineal
madder
indigo
avocado skins & pits
acorns

Using the Library

There are MANY good dyeing books; here are the ones I have so far on my shelf. I can't suggest which are a must-buy until I work more with them, so I suggest making a trip to your library!

If you're looking for some free inspiration, the lovely people over at The Spruce have put together a list of blog posts for different color dyes, with photos and some brief instructions. Here they are:

How to Make Organic Natural Yellow Dye

alfalfa seeds, barberry bark, bay leaves, burdock, celery, chameleon plant, crocus, daffodil, dahlia, dandelion, dyer's greenwood, goldenrod, heather, hickory leaves, mahonia roots, marigold, mullen, old man's beard lichen, osage orange, oxalis, peach tree leaves, red clover, safflower, sassafras bark, saffron, st. john's wort, sumac bark, sunflowers, syrian rue, tansy, turmeric, willow leaves, yarrow, yellow dock roots, yellow onion skin

How to Make Organic Natural Orange Dye

alder tree bark, barberry shrub, bloodroot, butternut seed husks, carrots, eucalyptus, giant coreposis, lilac twigs, paprika, pomegranate, sassafras, turmeric, yellow onion skin

How to Make Organic Natural Peach or Salmon Dye

annatto seeds, bee balm, jewelweed, plum tree bark, virginia creeper, weeping willow bark

How to Make Organic Natural Red Dye

autumn red leaves, bamboo, bedstraw root, beet roots, brazilwood, canadian hemlock, chokecherries, crabapple bark, elderberry, hibiscus flowers, madder root, portulaca, rose hips, st. john's wort, sumac fruit, sycamore bark

How to Make Organic Natural Pink Dye

british soldier lichens, cherries, grand fir tree, pink camellia, raspberries, roses and lavender, strawberries, sumac

How to Make Organic Natural Purple Dye

basil, blackberries, cherry tree roots, dark purple iris blooms, daylily blooms, elderberry, grapes, hibiscus flowers, huckleberries or blueberries, mulberries, pokeweed berries, raspberries, red cabbage, red cedar roots, red maple bark, sweetgum bark

How to Make Organic Natural Blue Dye

cornflower blooms, dogwood bark and fruit, hyacinth flowers, indigo, japanese indigo / dyer's knotweed, oregon grape, saffron crocus petals, purple iris, woad / dyer's woad

How to Make Organic Natural Green Dye

artichokes, black-eyed susan, chamomile leaves, coneflower, foxglove, grass, larkspur or delphinium, lilac blooms, lily of the valley, mint, nettle, pigweed, plantain roots, purple milkweed, queen anne's lace, red onion skins, red pine needles, scotch broom stems, snapdragon, sorrel, spinach, tarragon

How to Make Organic Natural Brown Dye

amur maple leaves, beet roots, birch bark, broom bark, broom sedge, coffee grounds, colorado white fir bark, coneflower, dandelion roots, fennel, goldenrod shoots, henna, hollyhock, ivy twigs, juniper berries, maple tree buds, oak acorns, oak bark, pine bark, st. john's wort, sumac leaves, tea leaves, walnut hulls, white maple bark, wild plum root, yellow dock

How to Make Organic Natural Black Dye

carob pods, iris roots, oak galls, rusty nails, sawtooth oak acorn caps, walnut hulls

Blog posts:

• 30 Days of Dyeing: Days 1-15
  July 2020
• Natural Dye Recipes and Photos: Days 1-15
  July 2020
• Crockpot Dyed Wool Instructions & Photos
  April 2019