Natural Dyeing silk masks with Cutch for Vince
A few weeks back, we shared dyeing basics and nuanced techniques with our community on how to naturally dye silk masks at home. This was one of my favorite collaborations with Vince, an iconic California luxury lifestyle brand. I am always inspired by the textiles, silhouettes and materials that Vince offers. One thing that I love about the brand is many of their pieces feature natural fibers, such as cashmere, cotton, linen and silk, all of which are ideal for Natural Dyeing. For this workshop, we hand-dyed masks using Cutch, an historic natural dye-stuff found in the heart center of the acacia tree. Not only does Cutch yield a beautiful range of colors but it smells quite earthy and nice when it's simmering.
Our Natural Dye kits included.
You can learn more about the process here:
The first thing to do is always prepare your fibers. In this case, we use a mordant: Alum because Cutch is high in tannin, and does not require an additional tannin (for cellulose only). For clarification, although our masks were silk, some dyers also up-cycled clothing items such as cotton tees. A mordant is a mineral salt that is used to allow the dye to more readily color the fibers. With this dye the use of an alum mordant is known to shift the color toward golden- so some may skip this step to achieve red-browns instead. Cutch also appears more red brown due to the silk!
Part of the beauty & magic of natural dye is the range of colors and the other is the part that the color truly is plant color derived from nature that is colorfast and lightfast! Anthony G, the Palisades store manager and I, had so much fun tie-dyeing out on the veranda.
If you would like to learn more about Natural Dyes, receive free tutorials and invites to workshops then be sure to join our community of textile designers, dyers and artists!
If you feel ready to take a deeper dive in to Natural Dyes & would love to start up cycling all of your linens and belongings- then take a look at my self-paced e-course Intro to Natural Dyes: Primary and take the plunge into Natural Dyes this January!
Last but not least, we still have a handful of similar Natural Dye Design kits available so you can snag one here while supplies last!
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Musings from behind the scenes of the studioCan you please share with us your mission for your design studio? Hilary L Hahn a teaching studio which has been offering workshops, private lessons, and events for a number of years. A working artist, Hilary is a painter, designer, & educator. Our mission is to support the work of creatives of all ages. Our goal is to serve and inspire a broad community of talented artists, who wish to further skills through the explore various art forms from painting, fiber arts, to sculpture. Her signature watercolor and surface design workshops are a must do! We aim to explore design in it's many forms from young artist and adults that want to reconnect to creativity daily. In your studio, you create modern textile designs inspired by natural dye processes, indigo and interiors. Your work combines natural elements & water as a vehicle for that dye. Is there a correlation between your love of natural dye and your watercolor painting practice? Yes, I enjoy the fluidity of shapes and I am inspired by organic patterns. I love to paint Shibori patterns as much as I love to dye with them. What are some of your favorites materials or tools to work with when you are in the studio? Arches watercolor paper, indigo, natural dyes, wood, watercolor and linen. Indigo Garden SocialYou have studied techniques in Japan and India. Could you talk about the particular techniques and practices you traveled to sturdy? Absolutely, I am inspired by my trips to India and Japan. From visiting with local artisans, museums, textile centers, and factories. I have enjoyed visiting with and hosting visitors from abroad and hope to do more. Taking a dye or design workshop, How have you been able to maintain a regular art practice over the past year? What advice would you give to creatives that could use an inspirational boost? My advice would be to work on something creative every-day. It could be something as simple as a watercolor, a study, a sketch, or adding embroidery. Take time to do something creatively fulfilling, and if what you find creatively fulfilling is your work, then be grateful for your job. One of the beautiful things about textiles dyed with natural techniques is that organic look and embracing wabi-sabi from the results. Could you talk about the importance appreciating the "surprises" that come out of the vat? I have found that my customers completely appreciate those little nuances within the work. Oftentimes it's easy to strive for perfection or to achieve a certain effect when you are dyeing. In many cases, those unexpected bursts of color or spontaneous patterns formed by the way a piece has been tied, are what makes the piece extraordinary and better than imagined. We have a few exciting events to round out the year. A few lucky participants will be dyeing in a small group LIVE in my garden in our: Indigo garden social. Meet up virtually for our watercolor for Relaxation painting workshop, where we will be exploring motifs on a set of watercolor cards.
Natural Dyeing with Food WasteRecently, I had the privilege to share some of my knowledge about Natural Dyes with extraordinary students in the Materials Program at Art Center in Pasadena. Today, I will share a piece of that lecture with you, as it centered around food waste that can be used as dye. As awareness and demand for sustainable fashion increases, we notice interest and research into natural dyes including food waste. Today, I will share with you 3 food waste that can be used to create natural color. These are one place to begin as you venture into the world of natural plant based color. Adequate preparation of the fibers: scouring and mordanting are essential steps prior to the application of any dyestuff. This improves colorfast and lightfast qualities of your pieces, which are essential ways to measure the long-lasting qualities of the dyed fibers. For those who are new to natural dyeing, I recommend starting with alum mordant, then adding a tannin. You will find that many of the food waste that I mention are already high in tannin, which makes these user friendly and alleviates that step in the dye process. Avocado as dyeThe first material that I would like to share is avocado. Avocado yields a range of colors from ballet pink to medium corals. You can use the seeds or skins. Make your avocado bath by simmering on low heat for 30 minutes, then strain out the pits and skins. Avocado is rich in tannins, so you can simply mordant then dye. When dyeing with something rich in tannin, the mordanting and tannin step can be combined with the dyeing step. One example of this would be dyeing with avocados, pomegranate or black tea. Follow this simple process to create a tannin bath or dye bath using avocado pits. Avocado on silk makes pale peach/pinks, while on cotton it appears more coral. Silk over dyed with indigo is shown at left. Avocado on cotton shown at right by dyer Sharon Marshall. Pomegranate dyeSome dyers are surprised to discover that pomegranate will produce a range of golden hues. Prepare your pomegranate bath by simmering the rinds on on low heat for 30 minutes, then strain out the excess rinds. You can dip a sample into the dye bath to see what color you achieve. When pomegranates are not in season, I use rind powder to obtain medium shades at 10-15% the weight of the fiber. This means 15g per 100g of fiber. You might consider freezing or drying your rinds after you eat them. Onion skinsLast but not least, I recommend experimenting with onion skins. In the photo below, I used yellow onion skins to create the dye bath. You might notice that they produce a warmer yellow hue that leans toward orange. When over-dyed with indigo it produces turquoise greens. Adding iron to the bath or dipping in iron also shifts the color to greens by shifting the ph. As I mentioned in the talk, the world of natural dyes is both art and science. Some very precise dyers who love botany and chemistry will excel in those areas. My background in painting and color mixing informs my work in the field of natural color. I'm excited for you to explore the world of food waste dyes and see where it takes you! It's a wonderful way to re-use what is around you.
Ready for more? My signature e-course Introduction to Natural Dyes: Primary is starting up soon. In this course you will learn about 3 primary dyestuffs that have been used for thousands of years to create natural colors on fiber. It is truly fun and one of a kind experience that happens within a creative group. All sessions are pre-recorded and can be accessed each week of the Dye group. Join now using the coupon code DYEGROUP2021 to receive 20% off this course through New Year's Day! Feel free to share the pieces that you create with our community and tag me @hilarylhahn, so that I can see them! |
HI, I'M HILARY.
This is where I share inspiration for creative well living & following your dreams. With a love to sustainable conscious creation. You will notice that I offer workshops that inspire you to LIVE a soul-inspired life and manifest your dreams. I hope to meet you at one of my retreats or inside one of my group programs. I truly believe in the power of community and connecting with visionary femme creatives like you! For weekly inspiration -find me on YouTube Categories
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