In Anglo-Saxon- the place where the people grow plants
This is my blog where I'll post gardening ideas, recipes for things you can (mostly) grow in your own garden, and the results of my experiments. There will probably be a few posts on medieval herbalism as well.
Showing posts with label woad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woad. Show all posts
Friday, 9 November 2018
Friday, 2 November 2018
Medieval plant dyes (and modern)
As long as you have red, yellow and blue you can mix and match to make almost any colour. Some of these dye plants are more resistant to fading in sunlight or getting washed out of the fibre than others.
Any plant name that is in bold is a perennial (or biennial).
Red -
Medieval European- Madder (Rubia tinctoria), Lady's Bedstraw/Cleavers (Galium verum)
Other- Amaranth (Hopi red dye), Dyer's Alkanet, Henna (Lawsonia inermis) (shrub), Joe Pye Weed, Dyer's Woodruff (Asperula tinctoria), Brazilwood (tree)
Orange -
Medieval European- any yellow + Madder, or just Madder itself
Other- Dyer's Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), Orange Cosmos, Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldstrum') (edges into dull yellow)
Friday, 19 October 2018
Dye, you fool!
Madder and dyer's chamomile. Dyer's chamomile smells just like chamomile tea, so my daughter didn't hate this as much as weld. Thank goodness she wasn't around for the woad.
I always used to get orange out of madder, but I've got the hang of it now. This is the madder with dyer's chamomile. The picture doesn't do the colour any justice. It's a quite nice tangerine.
Labels:
Anglo Saxon,
chamomile,
crafts,
every little bit helps,
experiment,
fall,
fibre processing,
history,
local,
madder,
natural dye,
Norse,
Old English,
reduce,
SCA,
woad,
wool
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