this is probably gonna land up in the top 5 dumbest fly tying questions of all time but here goes:
we can use onion skins to dye materials, we can use koolaid to dye materials but can we use some of the colorful falling leaves to dye materials?? theres some outrageous colors out there on those trees.
well can we?
Interesting thread Norm.
I donāt know about leaves, but walnut hulls will stain things well. This got me thinking (and if I remeber my biology corectly) fall color is the lack of or draining of chlorophyll in the leaves?. The slower it drains from the leaves the longer the different colors stay on. Iām wondering if fresh cut grass could be used as a dye? After all, grass stains tend to stay until theyāre bleached or a heavy detergent is used.
Normand
Yes you can, check this out
http://www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/projects/may03/pg1.html#materials
Fatman
I read the link provided by Fatman, but I would be VERY surprised if you can use the fall colored leaves to dye anything at all. The color is the result of the shorter photo period and less water causing the tree to stop producing the glucose used in photosynthesis. As the sugars are used up the colors(mainly the golds and yellows) appear. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. All-in-all, I seriously doubt that you can get any color out of the leaves. Itās just not the same as using flowers or plant parts for dyes. All that being said, Iād love for you to prove me wrong. Please let us know what you find out.
Jim Smith
The best time to gather leaves for dyeing is early summer when they are at their peak. One of the best books on the subject is āWild Colorā. Itās out of print right now and so the price is very high. You could try for an inter-library loan if you local library doesnāt have it. This link has a limited preview but you can see a list of plants which would be worth trying: http://books.google.com/books?id=5QtdVeZa-w8C&pg=PP1&dq=wild+color&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Many of these natural dyes are available from natural dye dealers but bulk herb places on the internet have many of them too. Birch leaves are a good choice to try for bright clear yellows and olives using different mordants. Bill
wsbailey,
Are you the same WSBailey that dyed the beautiful berlin wool and kid goat I got from John McLain? If so, well done. Absolutely beautiful colors on both products. Excellent wax as well.
I checked a couple of rare and used book sellers for Color Wild. Apparaently, those who have it, hold on to it. Couldnāt find any. Iāll keep looking.
REE
Hi REE,
Iām glad you like my stuff. I bought āWild Colorā when it first came on the market. Now I wish I had bought five of them. Jenny Dean has a new book on dyeing which I have. It focuses more on the āclassicā natural dyes than gathered ones but the principles of dyeing are the same.
Bill