DIY NATURAL DYES with FREE PEOPLE

crazychick · #1 10-12-2011, 03:36 PM

div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: small;"I've been a fan of a href="http://www.freepeople.com/"Free People/a for ages, mainly because of their perfectly bohemian aesthetic and super cool warehouse headquarters (thanks instagram for reminding me daily of where I DON'T work). I always tune in for their WednesDIY on the Free People blog, so when they asked me recently if I wanted to guest post for today's DIY I couldn't say no - check out the a href="http://blog.freepeople.com/2011/10/guest-post-diy-fishtail-maxi/"DIY Fishtail Skirt/a I made for them./span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"br //divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: small;"We also thought it would be lovely to feature one of their DIYs here.nbsp; Free People blogger Julia (um, best job ever?) did this amazing natural dyes project which I knew you would love.nbsp;/spanbr /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ve1SjHO1xbM/TpRCGEi0LII/AAAAAAAAEl8/TCrs8Lxu1x4/s1600/free-people20.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ve1SjHO1xbM/TpRCGEi0LII/AAAAAAAAEl8/TCrs8Lxu1x4/s1600/free-people20.JPG" //a/div/divbr /I have always wanted to experiment with natural dyes and on a gloomy day in September I decided that it was time. This is such a fun, environmentally friendly project that takes a little bit of time, but very little cash.br /br /There are a number of plants that can be used to make natural dyes, but for my first go-round I chose to use fruits and vegetables that I picked up at a local market.br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EqPL7MCLG5Y/TpRDIoYfN_I/AAAAAAAAEoU/6HCCixUn270/s1600/free-people1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EqPL7MCLG5Y/TpRDIoYfN_I/AAAAAAAAEoU/6HCCixUn270/s640/free-people1.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: small;"What I got: red cabbage, lemons, oranges, beets, yellow onions, blackberries, blueberries, spinach./span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: small;"*It’s important to remember when working with natural dyes that iexperimentation is key/i – depending on the amount of ingredients you use and how long you leave a garment in the dye, the color you get can vary. /span/divdiv style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"br /ispan style="font-size: small;"For pinkish/red dyes:/span/i/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: small;"Beets /spanspan style="font-size: small;"and blueberries can make a really lovely dusty rose color./span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EG-cFSArxdA/TpRC-6XlDrI/AAAAAAAAEoE/VIkyr2t_va8/s1600/free-people3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EG-cFSArxdA/TpRC-6XlDrI/AAAAAAAAEoE/VIkyr2t_va8/s640/free-people3.jpg" width="640" //aa href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ivA-RHIdmU/TpRDECOtwQI/AAAAAAAAEoM/IXDzEEogL_8/s1600/free-people2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ivA-RHIdmU/TpRDECOtwQI/AAAAAAAAEoM/IXDzEEogL_8/s640/free-people2.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"ispan style="font-size: small;"For bluish/purple dyes:/span/i/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"Blackberries /spanspan style="font-size: small;"and red cabbage can be used to make bluish/purple dyes.nbsp;nbsp;/spanbr //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OI1AjViuHfA/TpRC6MvZG9I/AAAAAAAAEn8/XTgjbuBH9R8/s1600/free-people4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OI1AjViuHfA/TpRC6MvZG9I/AAAAAAAAEn8/XTgjbuBH9R8/s640/free-people4.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RVy2XGGvD9U/TpRC2pVjEHI/AAAAAAAAEn0/CkASWaqnUZs/s1600/free-people5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RVy2XGGvD9U/TpRC2pVjEHI/AAAAAAAAEn0/CkASWaqnUZs/s640/free-people5.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"nbsp;bnbsp;/b/span/divdiv style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"ispan style="font-size: small;"For copper/orange dyes:/span/i /divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"I never realized what a beautiful color yellow onions can have! Their skins can make an alluring mustard yellow, coppery color./span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BQnv-Zk6rCY/TpRCyqNb6gI/AAAAAAAAEns/lk1Thpy2gGk/s1600/free-people6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="500" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BQnv-Zk6rCY/TpRCyqNb6gI/AAAAAAAAEns/lk1Thpy2gGk/s640/free-people6.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"ispan style="font-size: small;"For yellow dyes:/span/i/divdiv style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"Orange/spanspan style="font-size: small;" and lemon peels can be used to make a soft pale yellow dye.nbsp;/span /divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6hQtaKg-OIA/TpRCvjFpEQI/AAAAAAAAEnk/ldhwxRVWNro/s1600/free-people7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6hQtaKg-OIA/TpRCvjFpEQI/AAAAAAAAEnk/ldhwxRVWNro/s640/free-people7.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K86J_o0NIoU/TpRCsNQ9CTI/AAAAAAAAEnc/BaIqZOqcGsU/s1600/free-people8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K86J_o0NIoU/TpRCsNQ9CTI/AAAAAAAAEnc/BaIqZOqcGsU/s640/free-people8.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"ispan style="font-size: small;"For green dyes:/span/i/divdiv style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"Finally, spinach can be used to make a beautiful shade of green.bnbsp;/b/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"bnbsp;/b/span /divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1iaTH3NBsPc/TpRCoXoqpCI/AAAAAAAAEnU/jpgrvkuVXi4/s1600/free-people9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1iaTH3NBsPc/TpRCoXoqpCI/AAAAAAAAEnU/jpgrvkuVXi4/s640/free-people9.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"bspan style="color: #444444;"Now what?/span/b/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"To make the dye, chop up your ingredients and put them in a pot with twice as much water as ingredients.nbsp; Bring the water to a boil and let simmer for an hour.nbsp; For deeper colors, you can leave the ingredients in the water (without heat) overnight./span/divdiv style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"Remove the hard materials from the mixture with a strainer, leaving you with the liquid dye./span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wv9P28xQ_1Q/TpRCjYJPJNI/AAAAAAAAEnM/P2em8v-18cM/s1600/free-people10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="510" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wv9P28xQ_1Q/TpRCjYJPJNI/AAAAAAAAEnM/P2em8v-18cM/s640/free-people10.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"The beets were such a beautiful deep red color! I chopped them up and added water and when I started boiling the water turned red almost immediately./span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bCur7JXm2_Y/TpRCiarUCNI/AAAAAAAAEnE/Uf0rf0AXzic/s1600/free-people11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="534" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bCur7JXm2_Y/TpRCiarUCNI/AAAAAAAAEnE/Uf0rf0AXzic/s640/free-people11.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"nbsp;/spanspan style="font-size: small;"nbsp;/span /divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"For the onions, I peeled off the skins and used only that part – I have seen other examples of this online that yielded really nice results but I was actually doubtful that this would really work.nbsp; Turns out I was pleasantly surprised!/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M6kaYDZ0ju4/TpRChIzrWNI/AAAAAAAAEm8/daUABxbUJfw/s1600/free-people12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M6kaYDZ0ju4/TpRChIzrWNI/AAAAAAAAEm8/daUABxbUJfw/s640/free-people12.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"br //divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"I had high hopes for the spinach… if anyone has tried this with spinach and gotten good results let me know what your secret is

/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w4z3z6RfbNM/TpRCgH2r6wI/AAAAAAAAEm0/mP763tUXLVQ/s1600/free-people13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w4z3z6RfbNM/TpRCgH2r6wI/AAAAAAAAEm0/mP763tUXLVQ/s640/free-people13.JPG" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"br //divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"After bringing each ingredient to a boil, I let them simmer for an hour while I prepared the fabrics to dye./span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SRwlTks7W6I/TpRCXnLX66I/AAAAAAAAEms/QnZFhpInU6Y/s1600/free-people14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SRwlTks7W6I/TpRCXnLX66I/AAAAAAAAEms/QnZFhpInU6Y/s640/free-people14.JPG" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"Before dying, you will also need to create a bfixative/b, which will help your fabric hold the dye./span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"When working with berries, use a salt fixative – put 1/2 cup of salt in 8 cups of water, put the fabric in and simmer for one hour./span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"When working with vegetables, use a vinegar fixative – mix one part vinegar and four parts water, add your fabric and simmer for one hour./span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"When you remove the fabric, rinse in cold water./span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"The fabric is now ready to dye!nbsp;/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DZU-8xfTHSY/TpRCRrEpZvI/AAAAAAAAEmk/aukbeIJ_p3E/s1600/free-people15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="316" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DZU-8xfTHSY/TpRCRrEpZvI/AAAAAAAAEmk/aukbeIJ_p3E/s640/free-people15.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"I put the fabric in the dye and let it sit for a little while – the longer you let it sit, the deeper your shade of color will be. I removed the fabric when I felt like it had reached a nice shade of reddish pink – such a pretty color:/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y8JhEBaOR9E/TpRCQk4HmOI/AAAAAAAAEmc/-Ws-4Ci8LVE/s1600/free-people17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y8JhEBaOR9E/TpRCQk4HmOI/AAAAAAAAEmc/-Ws-4Ci8LVE/s640/free-people17.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"nbsp;/spanspan style="font-size: small;"nbsp;/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"I was happiest with the color I got from the onion skins – a beautiful amber that worked so well on the fabric./span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wGeNQNEv7yU/TpRCP8P1SgI/AAAAAAAAEmU/WhZK1r-yIGA/s1600/free-people16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wGeNQNEv7yU/TpRCP8P1SgI/AAAAAAAAEmU/WhZK1r-yIGA/s640/free-people16.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MTInGHr4veI/TpRCO-XPQvI/AAAAAAAAEmM/-1mDUWj7kDQ/s1600/free-people18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="234" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MTInGHr4veI/TpRCO-XPQvI/AAAAAAAAEmM/-1mDUWj7kDQ/s640/free-people18.jpg" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"nbsp;/spanspan style="font-size: small;"nbsp;/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"Wouldn’t it be cool to makeb friendship bracelets/b using naturally-dyed string?!/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yoNDgcUS0g8/TpRCOGJCGnI/AAAAAAAAEmE/Jbk6o_NTzSE/s1600/free-people19.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yoNDgcUS0g8/TpRCOGJCGnI/AAAAAAAAEmE/Jbk6o_NTzSE/s640/free-people19.JPG" width="640" //a/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"By the next day, the fabric dyed with the beets faded into more of a light pink color, but it was still really pretty! I think next time, though, I would leave the fabric in the dye for longer.nbsp; The fabric dyed with onion skins actually held out really well, and I LOVE the color it created. I loved it so much, I tried it out on one of my a href="http://www.freepeople.com/intimates-bras/" target="_blank"Free People bras/a/spanspan style="font-size: small;"

/span/divdiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"span style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GTIRK7qxbKs/TpRCEgjeSlI/AAAAAAAAEl0/XUrxzJFKsCI/s1600/free-people21.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GTIRK7qxbKs/TpRCEgjeSlI/AAAAAAAAEl0/XUrxzJFKsCI/s1600/free-people21.JPG" //a/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: small;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ve1SjHO1xbM/TpRCGEi0LII/AAAAAAAAEl8/TCrs8Lxu1x4/s1600/free-people20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"br //a/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"/divdiv style="text-align: center;"Make sure you have a look around thea href="http://blog.freepeople.com/" Free People blog /a- they have loads of amazing DIYs./divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8784775234411105189-9059564647603054200?l=apair-andaspare.blogspot.com' alt='' //div