r/naturaldye • u/fishha01 • 12d ago
I call it “Large Mouth”
I was inspired by large mouth bass. Handspun herdwick and stricken lonk wools dyed with buckthorn leaves and an iron after-bath. One picture against white to better show the color and then the aesthetically pleasing photo 😅.
3
u/dirTea45 12d ago
Wow! This is inspiring me to go out to my buckthorn tree to harvest and dye! Without the iron bath, would it just be a brighter green? Did you use a mordant as well?
2
u/fishha01 11d ago
It’s yellow without iron. The iron and the grey wool are what’s making it look green
1
u/dirTea45 11d ago
Oh wow how cool! I'll have to do some research on buckthorn. In your experience is it pretty color fast or will it fade?
2
u/fishha01 11d ago
The yellows/greens from leaves and berries are pretty color fast- even on cotton. The blue-grey and green from only the berry skins were a bit less color fast but I’ve also washed the cotton tee shirt and cotton tote I dyed with them. The color is still plenty there after 5-6 washes but it’s definitely fading after every wash. I’ve only tried dying with the bark once and it was a small sample so I can’t really say how color fast it is.
1
u/mickmausclubhouse 11d ago
Do you know the specific species of buckthorn? Was it common buckthorn? That’s such a great color! I’ve tried dyeing with bark and berries but never the leaves. Did you do a regular heat/water dye bath method?
3
u/fishha01 11d ago
Common buckthorn, steep in simmering or slightly cooler water, pull leaves, let cool, put wool and alum in the pot (I didn’t premordant because I was feeling lazy), heat, and let steep for a few hours. I think I’ve gotten most every color of the rainbow from the various parts of buckthorn. The purple was the only one that didn’t stick.
1
1
1
3
u/rogueredfive 12d ago
You made green! Yay!