How to Dye With Blackberries
- 1). Separate ripe berries and place them into a stainless steel pot. Wear work or gardening gloves to prevent staining your hands and pricking yourself on thorns.
- 2). Cover the berries with water. The berry-to-water ratio depends on how dark you want the dye to be. For a light dye, use fewer berries. For a darker dye, use more berries.
- 3). Simmer the berries for ½ hour.
- 4). Remove the berries and place them in a blender or bowl. Blend the berries into a puree, or mash them with a potato masher.
- 5). Pour the mashed berries back into the water and simmer for another ½ hour.
- 6). Strain the dye into a bucket through cheesecloth or a strainer basket to remove all pulp and seeds.
- 7). Add additional hot water to the bucket if desired.
- 8). Make a separate mordant bath: dissolve 1 tbsp. alum for every 1 gallon hot water in a bucket. Alum acts as a mordant to prevent dyed fabric from fading. Allow the dye bath to cool to warm before bathing fabric in it.
- 9). Saturate your fabric in plain water.
- 10
Submerge fabric in the mordant bath for 30 minutes. Remove and wring out. - 11
Place fabric in the berry dye bath and allow it to sit overnight. - 12
Hang fabric on a clothesline to dry.
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