a Quickie

My Table at Ligonier Country Market

Can't wait to get these into the dye pot with some wool

Dried Mint harvested from the garden earlier this year

some herbs just hanging out to dry

Rainy day(s) with kids

Here is a fun activity to do with the kids when it is raining.  You can google Elmer's glue batik for more specifics, but here is a quick post on what we did.  I bought some plain white fabric - we did two separate 1 yard each panels.  Lay it out on some cardboard backed with waxed paper.  A table works too, just somewhere that it won't be disturbed while the glue dries (overnight).  Take your gel Elmer's glue and squeeze the glue out into whatever design you prefer.  You could sketch an elaborate picture onto the fabric and use the glue to draw it or do as we did and free form glue all over the place.  I did this with a 3 and 5 year old so some spots were heavy with puddles of glue.  I just made sure I helped them move their bottles of glue around. ..most were swirly lines and dots.  As I mentioned above...let this dry.  Now comes the fun part...paint!  Get lots of acrylic paints and water them down.  Use this to paint your entire fabric panel.  Let it dry overnight.  This was our first time making something like this and I can tell that it is real important that you water down your paint.  Our fabric is somewhat stiff since we should have used more water.  When your paint is entirely dry put your fabric in a basin filled with warm soapy water.  Let it sit for 20-30 minutes to wash away the glue. (scrubbing is fine...the pigments in the acrylic paint has stained your fabric so you will not wash the paint away)  After I did this, I felt like it was still a bit slimy with glue so I tossed ours in the washing machine set to a gentle cycle and cold water.  I even tossed them in the dryer.  I backed ours with fleece for a small lap throw and have plans on making some neat designed fabric for bags.  It is really fun and engaging for creative kids.  Mine got the biggest kick out of making a painting on fabric that can be used for something useful.  We gifted these lap blankets to their Grandpa and Papa as birthday presents.

Painting with watered down acrylics.  Look closely you can see our glue design

 the painting process

 finished painted panels left to dry

 soaking in the warm soapy water

 a close up of the dry finished piece

sOaP!!

Part 2, Natural Dyeing Series - Marigolds & Calendula

So, sorry to those (few) folks who subscribe to my blog wanting to see/learn about my soap making adventure’s only to be recently mislead into some of my other interests…the most recent being Naturally Dyeing.  In a way it is a related to my soaping since all of my soaps are colored naturally.  I’m an avid knitter so of course my curiosity with natural dyes in soaping would spring up in my love for wool too.  I’m usually thinking,’ what would that look like in soap?’, but now I’m always wondering what wool would look like dyed too.  It is sometimes hard to drive down the road…I’m looking at all the weeds and plants on the roadside and wondering what would they look like in the dye pot.  So onto my little Natural Dye Series, Part 2 – Marigolds and Calendula.

I grouped Marigolds and Calendula together for none other than the latter is referred to as ‘Pot Marigold’.  They look and smell a bit similar too. 

Marigolds are native to North America.  The Aztecs used them in religious ceremonies.  They are used all over the world in festivals and ceremonies for dyes, food and floral arrangements.  They are so easy to grow and once established will flower well into Autumn.  If you save the dead seed pods and dry them you have seeds ready to go next Spring.  I have my kids help plant Marigolds all over the perennial flower beds in our yard for bright touches of color.  I love them and have to admit they are one of my favorites.  I think it is because they are so easy to grow, flower constantly and provide you with seeds for the next year.

Calendula is not botanically related to marigolds, but look similar.  Calendula is native to the Mediterranean area and like Marigolds is used throughout the world for their pretty bright flowers, but Calendulas are also used medicinally to treat wounds and skin irritations.  I started my Calendula plant from a package of seeds that I got at my local farm fleet store.  I harvest the fully matured bright yellow flowers and dry them on an old window screen.  I let a few flowers go to seed and once dried and wilted I dehead and shake the seeds onto the ground.  I tried saving the seeds and planting elsewhere in the garden, but it never took.  I’m on my 3^rd season of Calendula from my one packet of seed by doing the above.  I've noticed a few new plants further away from the original so maybe the wind carries some seeds. 

Calendula has many uses, but is mostly used for skin care since it promotes healing and is extremely gentle.  You will find it used in many salves and balms especially for babies chapped or irritated skin.  I use my dried petals in soap since the bright yellow color remains through the saponification process.  I've also infused my oil with dried petals for an extra skin soothing bar of soap.

I only use my dried Calendula petals in soap and salve and Marigolds as natural dyes for animal or plant fibers for sewing or knitting.  Onto some pictures........

Naturally Dyeing with Marigolds:

Cotton Muslin fabric pre-mordant with Alum ready for dye

I used dried Marigold seed pods left over from our Spring planting (approx 4 oz).  The fabric and seed pods are layered into the jar and then I poured hot water over to fill.  This sat on the counter for a few days.

The same cotton muslin out of the dye.

 And the finished product.  I'm impressed with the bright yellow golden color.

I saved the seed pod mixture and decided to try dyeing some yarn with it also.  Here are the natural skeins.  I basically went through my stash and whatever looked natural and plain went into the dye pot.  I did not pre- mordant with anything.  I didn't even scour or pre-soak them.  All are plant or animal fibers (alpaca, merino or cotton)

 

Out of the pot...still a nice golden yellow color with the 2nd exhaust.

I dyed these in the same dye pot...they were a pale natural cotton color before sitting in the dye pot for a few days.  Again no pre-mordant.

I decided to play around with an Iron post-mordant.  Here is my iron mordant...it is some metal hardware the kids found in the yard digging around that I put in an old pb jar with vinegar and water.  It sat for about 2 weeks until it was all nice and orangy dark.  

 I took a risk and added half of one of the Marigold skeins directly into the iron mordant.  I think next time I would fill a basin with water and add some of the mordant to the water....not the fiber directly in.  It may weaken the fiber...maybe, who knows.  I didn't have a timer but I read you could leave it from anywhere from 5-20 minutes depending on what color you want to achieve.  A post-iron mordant is known to 'sadden' the color...make it darken and more intense.  I had the radio on and left it in for two songs...so about 10 minutes.  

And here it is after a rinse. 

and what I knit with the yarn.....Enchanted Mesa sweater by Stephen West

 Naturally Dyeing with Calendula:

Some dried flower heads

I infused some oil with the dried flowers for a few weeks.  I picked off the yellow petals, placed in a sterile jar and topped with oil.  (I think I used Sunflower Oil, but it may have been Olive).  You can see how brightly colored the oil gets after a few weeks.

 I used that bright oil to superfat a batch of soap and added some petals as decoration to the top. 

Up next in our Natrual Dye series.....TEA!

Natural Dyeing Series, Part 1 - Alkanet Root

I dye all of my soaps naturally and I'm always interested in learning more about what to use.  I thought it would be interesting to make a series of posts highlighting some dye I use or things I learn through my research.  There are so many resources out there to find out information, but the best way for me has been simple experiments.  I turn to Google at lot to see if someone else has any info to share about a different herb.  I have also checked out at my local library these books:  Dye Plants and Dyeing, by John & Margaret Cannon and The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes, by Sasha Duerr.  The latter has amazing pictures and is an excellent source for all kinds of things found in nature.  Both give detailed descriptions about the dyeing process that is used for animal fibers or fabric.  I sometimes think what some of the stuff found in nature would look like in soap...most may end up being brown when it hits the lye, but it is fun to think about and maybe experiment with.

I chose Alkanet Root as my first herb to feature in the series since it is so versatile and I use it frequently.   It is in the Borage family has been a source for red dye for centuries and is considered non-toxic.  I use it in powder form since I mainly use it for soap so it can be a bit messy.  I've used it as a natural tint in Lip Balm and to naturally dye wool.

I'll start with the soap first.  I've done both methods -- adding directly to the lightly traced soap and making an oil infusion with the powder prior to making a batch.  I have to admit both give similar results so I tend to just add it directly into the soap pot.  It makes a nice grey/purple color.  The soap in the above photo is my 'Queen of the Galaxy' which contains both Alkanet Root and Moroccan Red Clay -- a nice contrast in an all purpose naturally dyed soap.  My use rate is about 2 tbls to about 15 oz of raw lightly traced soap. 

In Lip Balm, I infused my Olive Oil with some Alkanet Root Powder for a few days stirring it each morning. The infusion is super simple and makes a nice naturally dyed lip balm.  It leaves a faint touch of color which is just perfect for me since I don't usually wear much makeup.  My use rate is about 2 tsp to 2 oz of oil.  My lip balm contains:  Olive Oil infused with Alkanet Root powder, Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Vitamin E Oil & Natural Peppermint Oil.

It was a total experiment when it came time to dye the wool.  I found some interesting articles on the internet to read, but most people dye with the actual root and not the powder, but since I have powder it made it a tiny bit tricky.  I found this incredible post which was invaluable.  Alkanet Root isn't soluble in water so in order to dye wool you must make a dye solution in either vodka or rubbing alcohol.  My dye solution was about 5 tbls to about 1 cup of rubbing alcohol and I let it soak for 3 days.  I had to stir it a few times each day since the powder settled to the bottom and seemed to get a bit clumpy.  Alkanet Root should be used at a rate of 75-100% WOF (weight of fiber).  I think I should have used a bit more alkanet since I ultimately dyed 11oz of wool.  I didn't weigh my 5 tbls prior to starting.  You must pre-mordant your fiber prior to dyeing so the color will adhere to your wool.  Mordant for Alkanet should be:  Alum 12-20% WOF + CoT (Cream of Tartar) 5-6%.  I used 1.3oz of Alum (which wasn't enough, but I didn't want to run to the store) and .5oz of CoT for my 11oz of wool.  To actually dye the wool I had to strain my rubbing alcohol solution since you don't want the powder in your dye bath.  That was uhh...a MESS!  I used coffee filters and paper towels, but it still found it's way onto every surface in my kitchen.  Make sure you are working in an area you can get messy or clean quickly.  I put a large pot of water on the stove and brought it to a simmer, added my dye solution, mixed it well then added my mordant wool.  I let it simmer, never boiling!  for about an hour and then turned the heat off and let it cool until I could remove the yarn and give it a bath.  I think it turned out well.  The yarn is reclaimed from a 100% wool Limited sweater.

BEFORE

AFTER

I wound my yarn into a ball to knit with and my hands turned a bit purple.  I ended up soaking all the skeins in a warm vinegar bath for about an hour and all is well!  Ready to knit sans purple hands. 

Up next in our Natural Dyeing Series is Marigold & Calendula Flowers.  

N E W Solid Lotion Bars!

Dusty Tree Soap (that'll be me, really!) is so excited to announce a new product to our soapy line......Solid Lotion Bars.  Yep, something new and non-soapy to smile about.

My solid lotion bars are made with all natural simple ingredients.  Handcrafted with: Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Beeswax, Honey, Olive Oil & Sweet Orange Essential Oil...that is it!  Sweet & simple.

These are solid at room temperature but when rubbed onto your skin they warm a bit and a tiny layer of lotion is left to totally moisturize.  Perfect for travel!

Some new KNITTING patterns available

Winter's End Cowl
FREE
download now

Bird's Eye Mitts
FREE
download now

Relaxation Shawl
FREE until April 9th