Wine & Dye | Natural Dyeing with Kitchen Scraps

Wine & Dye | Natural Dyeing with Kitchen Scraps

natural dye books natural color books

On a cloudy Sunday, I was able to host some of my favorite people for my first ever natural dyeing class in my Seattle home.  A Sunday, "Wine & Dye," our early afternoon was filled with mimosas and guacamole. I am grateful to be surrounded by people who are interested in the art of natural dyes, and expanding their understanding and knowledge of varying art forms. 

girls laughing at natural dye class

In this session, we focused on some of the most accessible dyes: kitchen scraps.  We used the skins and the pits of avocados, and whole red onions. The cool thing about utilizing kitchen scraps is that you minimize waste - all of the avocados and red onions were used in this session (we ate a LOT of guacamole). 

guacamole avocado

Natural dyeing is so simple to do at home, we cooked both batches of dye on my kitchen stove, with the red onion in an aluminum pot and the avocados in stainless steel. 

avocado dye red onion dye

natural dye class

natural dye class seattle

I showcased samples of the different types of dyes, discussing mushrooms and general plant material in addition to kitchen scraps. 

natural dye class seattle

We also discussed modifiers, including how cooking in different types of pots (iron, aluminum, stainless steel, copper) can affect the color of your dye. 

natural dye class seattle

mushroom dyes

I also showcased results from different dyes I had done in the past so the students could see the variety of colors that could be achieved from the beauty of natural dyes. 

hair scarf natural dyeing

The end result was a lovely pale green from the red onions, and a lovely grey blue from the avocado skins.  We modified our dye baths using iron to sadden the color (my favorite modifier). 

Thank you so much for everyone for coming, asking intriguing questions, and being interested in the art of natural dyes.  I'm so excited for these to come moving forward. 

Be on the lookout for more natural dye classes soon!

Cheers,

Lindsey