natural dyes: a which name? re-post

My kiddos might be big, but, oh, they do love our traditions. So egg dyeing is happening as I type. They are dyeing some hard boiled eggs and have already dyed some shells that I carefully cracked near the top. The pictures immediately below are a sampling of today's creativity.

Below is a blog post that originally appeared on my blog Which Name? on March 18, 2010. A version of it also appeared in the online magazine, Rhythm of the Home, in April 2010. Unfortunately, not only is the magazine no longer being e-published, but the magazine URL now belongs to someone else, so all my article links are dead-ends.




recently, when my mom brought over the children's books on fiber arts, she also brought over several books on using natural dyes for fabrics and yarns, knowing that my interest in natural dyes had been rekindled. i skimmed the books, learning things i had not known, wishing for more detail on fabric (rather than yarn) dyeing, knowing i am not ready to purchase chemicals to use as setting agents, and finally settling in on the natural food dyes i know and love.

but this time, i am not using them for fabric. i am using them for food.

with easter just around the corner and mike's mom over for a visit, we put some of my food dyes to the test.


using foods for natural dyes (of eggs, non-synthetic cloth, and non-synthetic yarn) is incredibly easy. some foods are natural dyes (or as we know them, staining agents!), such as coffee, tea, turmeric, mustard, grapes (wine), berries, beets, etc.

here is how to make your own egg dyes:
your food for color + 1 tablespoon vinegar + 2 cups water = egg dye
(the vinegar is the setting agent.) bring all of the ingredients to a boil, them simmer for 10 or more minutes
pouring your mixture through a sieve will give a liquid that leaves you with a solid color. leaving the food material in the mix will give your egg a mottled color.

to obtain various colors:
red: beets, cabbage, red raspberries, strawberries
yellow: onion skins, turmeric, mustard
blue: blueberries, blackberries
green: mix your yellow and blue dyes
orange: mix your red and yellow dyes (today's updated note: sour grass makes the most incredible orange)

i used red raspberries for red, blue and blackberries for blue/purple, and a combination of turmeric, mustard, and onion skins for yellow.

at the suggestion of my crafty friend liz, we made leaf imprints on some of our eggs. to do this, simply press the leaf against the egg, wrap the egg tightly inside an old nylon stocking, twist to keep taut, and dye for as long as you can bear to leave it sitting.



the egg below was dyed in blueberries and was left soaking for well over an hour. i left it tightly wrapped when i removed it from the color and let it dry slightly before removing the stocking and peeling off the leaf.


and because i could not bear to let all those simmered berries go to waste, i used them to make berry cobbler!