The Natural Dye Process

I use a variety of natural dye stuff to give color to my yarns. I use locally grown produce, foraged plants, garden flowers and some materials that I buy from sustainable sources. 

All dye baths are carefully prepared for that specific plant and the color I wish to achieve from it. 

The usual process using fresh material is to soak overnight in water, then added to a pot and simmered over a fire for anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. Certain dyes require different temperatures to obtain the right color.

Solar dyeing is where I use the power of the hot southern sun (and my handy greenhouse dye studio) to extract the dye from the plants vs heating them over a fire. It can be a several day process, every day the jars reaching a temp of 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit and slowly releasing the color.