Although I'm not an expert in dyeing, I have thoroughly explored a range of natural dyes during 'My Friend Luna', and been amazed and by both the process and results, learning a lot along the way. I have experimented with a variety of natural dyes in powder form such as indigo, madder and annatto, as well as using fresh materials such as onion peels, berries and cabbage. While advocates of synthetic dyes argue that it is harder to achieve consistency and strength with natural dyes, and that mordants/fixatives (most often chemical or toxic) must be used, I find excitement in the inconsistencies, and not always knowing what colour will present at the end. I also find the colours achieved from natural dyes more accurately resemble the colours seen in nature which are almost always in my colour palette- which is not surprising, and synthetic dyes can be overly harsh and flat when trying to recreate colours from nature.
Dyes can present very different colours when used on different fibres, and this was very noticeable when I was testing out the same dyes on silk and cotton. There was a clear tonal shift with colours appearing 'warmer' in the silk and 'cooler' in the cotton; I also found that the colours produced on silk appeared more vibrant and had more depth compared to the cotton on which the colours seemed paler or muted and slightly flat. (see image above)
Same dye, different fibre
The image on the right perhaps shows the most dramatic variation that I came across when using the same dye on different fibres. The dye was made using fresh blackberries and a copper pot, and was tested on linen, cotton and silk (from left to right). Surprisingly the linen picked up a cool steely blue colour while the cotton and silk picked up purple tones, with the cotton presenting a pale mauve/lilac colour and the silk a much darker, almost midnight purple.
Oxidation
Natural change and ageing was a key part of the project 'My friend luna', and I was curious to look at how this effects colour in textiles. While the most obvious change that occurs in response to exposure to elements such as air, light and moisture is fading/softening of colours, tonal shifts can also occur. This was evident when using red cabbage as a natural dye, which initially produces a strong lilac colour but eventually turns into a green or turquoise colour after exposure to oxygen; the image to the left shows two skeins of cotton both dyed with red cabbage, immediately after being dyed (left) and two weeks after being dyed (right).