Matty Bottles Posted May 19, 2004 Posted May 19, 2004 I know there was a thread about this a few months back, but I haven't the mind to go through each thread in each section, so I'm just asking: Who here has historically accurate dye recipes, and would ye be willing to share? "The time was when ships passing one another at sea backed their topsails and had a 'gam,' and on parting fired guns; but those good old days have gone. People have hardly time nowadays to speak even on the broad ocean, where news is news, and as for a salute of guns, they cannot afford the powder. There are no poetry-enshrined freighters on the sea now; it is a prosy life when we have no time to bid one another good morning." - Capt. Joshua Slocum
Zorg Posted May 19, 2004 Posted May 19, 2004 Ill be diggin some up for ye lad as soon as me SO makes it out here. What colors would ye be interested in? I lives with a fibre artist. Z Drop a kitten six feet, and she grins... Drop an elephant six feet, and ya gots yerself a mess ta clean up.... Sometimes bein' the biggest and most powerful is the LAST thing you wanna be..... Mad Ozymandias Zorg the Unsnottered
Matty Bottles Posted May 19, 2004 Author Posted May 19, 2004 Really? I guess I'm interested in ALL of them, but that's a bit greedy. I guess I could really go for a red, a blue, and a green. Maybe a nice yellow, as well. "The time was when ships passing one another at sea backed their topsails and had a 'gam,' and on parting fired guns; but those good old days have gone. People have hardly time nowadays to speak even on the broad ocean, where news is news, and as for a salute of guns, they cannot afford the powder. There are no poetry-enshrined freighters on the sea now; it is a prosy life when we have no time to bid one another good morning." - Capt. Joshua Slocum
Zorg Posted May 19, 2004 Posted May 19, 2004 Just fer starters, there are a number of green dyes, startin with grass (no kidding). The two main blues were woad (NASTY freakin stuff, but yields a deep blue) and Indigo, which would be new to Europe in the 17th century. Indigo is a very fast dye, and there's a cool japanese rice-paste resist technique that works well for a kind of quick (and far less toxic) batik look. Reds you get from various berries (ill send the list shortly) and madder, which is probably the most permanent of the lot. For yellows, I love using tumaric (yep, the spice) It would be exotic to Europe, so a novelty, and it's relatively long lasting. One thing to note about even well mordented natural dyes is that they fade (at varying rates depending on the dye), but they're kind enough to fabrics by and large to allow for frequent redyeing. more shortly. Hey Red Maria, you have any good book sources on this? Z Drop a kitten six feet, and she grins... Drop an elephant six feet, and ya gots yerself a mess ta clean up.... Sometimes bein' the biggest and most powerful is the LAST thing you wanna be..... Mad Ozymandias Zorg the Unsnottered
Matty Bottles Posted May 19, 2004 Author Posted May 19, 2004 I knew that Anil was a toxic plant, but I'm not exactly sure how toxic. And I understand they'll fade. That doesn't bother me. Tumeric, huh? I've got a big pile of undyed cottons and linens I found at the back of the Jo-Ann fabrics. So I'm going to try to make a complete outfit home-dyed. And I have such a great resource in all the knowledge people on this board, I figured I'd ask you all. "The time was when ships passing one another at sea backed their topsails and had a 'gam,' and on parting fired guns; but those good old days have gone. People have hardly time nowadays to speak even on the broad ocean, where news is news, and as for a salute of guns, they cannot afford the powder. There are no poetry-enshrined freighters on the sea now; it is a prosy life when we have no time to bid one another good morning." - Capt. Joshua Slocum
Zorg Posted May 19, 2004 Posted May 19, 2004 Here are some good period dye links..: Elizabethan color From "Recreating History" Color names and materials Mordants hope this helps :) Drop a kitten six feet, and she grins... Drop an elephant six feet, and ya gots yerself a mess ta clean up.... Sometimes bein' the biggest and most powerful is the LAST thing you wanna be..... Mad Ozymandias Zorg the Unsnottered
Matty Bottles Posted May 19, 2004 Author Posted May 19, 2004 Thanks. "The time was when ships passing one another at sea backed their topsails and had a 'gam,' and on parting fired guns; but those good old days have gone. People have hardly time nowadays to speak even on the broad ocean, where news is news, and as for a salute of guns, they cannot afford the powder. There are no poetry-enshrined freighters on the sea now; it is a prosy life when we have no time to bid one another good morning." - Capt. Joshua Slocum
Matty Bottles Posted May 19, 2004 Author Posted May 19, 2004 Wow! Those sites aren't kidding! This is some serious stuff, dying clothes the old way. A lot of work. I'll have to get a giant pot. I don't think it would be a good idea to use my turkey-deep-fryer pot. "The time was when ships passing one another at sea backed their topsails and had a 'gam,' and on parting fired guns; but those good old days have gone. People have hardly time nowadays to speak even on the broad ocean, where news is news, and as for a salute of guns, they cannot afford the powder. There are no poetry-enshrined freighters on the sea now; it is a prosy life when we have no time to bid one another good morning." - Capt. Joshua Slocum
Zorg Posted May 19, 2004 Posted May 19, 2004 Might make for a more colorful thanksgiving dinner Drop a kitten six feet, and she grins... Drop an elephant six feet, and ya gots yerself a mess ta clean up.... Sometimes bein' the biggest and most powerful is the LAST thing you wanna be..... Mad Ozymandias Zorg the Unsnottered
Red Maria Posted May 19, 2004 Posted May 19, 2004 Hey Red Maria, you have any good book sources on this?Z Here's a website with some titles towards the bottom http://www.allfiberarts.com/cs/dyes.htm Also on the website are some recipes http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/howto/ Just quickly for reds madder as Zorg said also cochineal which is a beetle that inhabits cactus. I am harvesting some from the desert garden hopefully enough to dye some silk brocade for a costume. Yellows weld, lady's bedstraw and dyer's marigold to name a few. Blues indigo and of course woad. Funny that this came up cause yeaterday I harvested a huge amount of woad from the herb garden here and I'm looking for someone with a big enough pot to process it. If anyone in th So Cal area can help you can get some free woad! I was also suppose to get some weld in order to make Saxon Green ((dye fabric first with weld then over dye with woad) but the weld was harvested while the herb garden curator was on vacation so I'm SOL. Anyone out there got weld? Hope that helps :)
Matty Bottles Posted May 19, 2004 Author Posted May 19, 2004 Oh, yeah! You work at the Huntington Gardens! Jeez, that's got to be nice. If I recall correctly, you can go anywhere you want to in time and space simply by changing gardens. Fuedal Japan? No problem! seventh century English Garden? No problem! At least, I think that's the Huntington Gardens. That week I went from the Gardens to the LA Arboretum and back again. One thing I remember for sure is the Gutenberg Bible behind glass. That was cool. "The time was when ships passing one another at sea backed their topsails and had a 'gam,' and on parting fired guns; but those good old days have gone. People have hardly time nowadays to speak even on the broad ocean, where news is news, and as for a salute of guns, they cannot afford the powder. There are no poetry-enshrined freighters on the sea now; it is a prosy life when we have no time to bid one another good morning." - Capt. Joshua Slocum
Zorg Posted May 19, 2004 Posted May 19, 2004 [QI was also suppose to get some weld in order to make Saxon Green ((dye fabric first with weld then over dye with woad) but the weld was harvested while the herb garden curator was on vacation so I'm SOL. Anyone out there got weld? M'wia, Some varieties of broom will have about the same effect as weld on an overdye, or so I'm told. Z Drop a kitten six feet, and she grins... Drop an elephant six feet, and ya gots yerself a mess ta clean up.... Sometimes bein' the biggest and most powerful is the LAST thing you wanna be..... Mad Ozymandias Zorg the Unsnottered
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