I’ve been wanting to learn how to dye with natural dyes so when Craft + Work offered a class I totes fangirled and jumped on the opportunity!

Our instructor was Heather Marano, hand-dyer, designer, and knitter extraordinaire. She brought some samples of her hand-dyed and knitted projects for inspiration.

Heather walked through the dyeing process and showed us swatches dyed with different plants and food scraps – like turmeric and red onion skins.

We prepared our fabrics by soaking them in water and creating optional folds and knots.

Heather prepared our dye baths. We decided on cochineal (bug scales!) which produces reds/pinks, logwood which produces purples, and weld and marigold which produce yellows.

Dip and soak! For some pieces I soaked my fabric in one color; for others I layered dyes. We experimented with different types of fabric and different soak times.

My favorite dye bath was the marigold; it smelled like a vat of tea. Or maybe it was the cochineal because those pinks!

Our color palette was very Spring. So pretty!

I love how all my pieces turned out! I’m excited to craft with my dyed fabric and rope.

This workshop also reinforced my dream to have a dye garden and become a dyer of goods. I can’t wait to accumulate all of the supplies. I want to play with avocado, red onion skins, eucalyptus, and some front yard flowers to start.

Do you natural dye? What are your favorite plants to use?