I love to use the plants that I grow to dye silk and wool, and sometimes linen. Silk and wool are protein, or animal fibres, and take up dye beautifully. Linen is a cellulose, or plant fibre, like cotton, and these require a different dyeing process to the one I am going to describe here.
Naturally dyed silk ribbons have many uses such as tying off a beautiful bouquet or wrapping a special gift. The ribbons shown here were hand torn from lengths of pure silk fabric - Habotai and Chiffon, I think.
You can use any pure silk fabric to make the ribbons. If you’re unfamiliar with the different weights and weaves such as crepe, georgette, organza etc., you can order a swatch card from a supplier such as Beckford Silks which will help you to choose the right fabric weight for your needs. Habotai silk is often used as its a readily available fabric, often used as a garment lining.
Bamboo silk is a semi synthetic fibre and is either a bamboo / silk blend or often simply bamboo. As it is a semi synthetic cellulose fibre it will require a different dye process to the one described below.
Sari silk ribbon, often sold as reclaimed or recycled, is very rarely made of silk. It’s usually made of some kind of polyester blend, and ribbons sold in bundles may often be of mixed fibres so dyeing methods will vary to that used for silk.
These are steps taken to dye these ribbons.
1. Launder the fabric to ensure that it is clean and free of any manufacturing residue then mordant it with alum. Details of how to mordant fabric, and mordants to buy can be found at https://www.wildcolours.co.uk/html/natural_dyes_mordants.html .
2. Collect nettles, removing any roots and soil, and place into a large saucepan.
3. Pour just enough water into the pan to cover the nettles.
4. Bring the nettle mixture to the boil and simmer very gently for about half an hour or so.
5. Remove from the heat, put a lid on the pan and leave overnight to stew.
6. Remove the leaves and stalks from the water, squeezing gently, and put them on the compost heap. The liquid that remains in the pan is your dye bath.
7. Remove silk from the alum bath then rinse in tepid water. Squeeze out excess water and place into the nettle dye bath. Ensure that the fabric has plenty of room. Putting in too much fabric will result in an uneven and blotchy finish.
8. Bring the dyebath [with fabric in it] to a simmer for about 10 minutes then remove from the heat and put a lid on the pan. Leave overnight to absorb colour and cool down.
9. Remove ribbons and rinse in tepid water.
Your ribbons are now ready to use.
To get a greater colour palette from your dye bath, such as that shown in the image above, you can add modifiers in the form of acids, alkalis or metal salts. From your own larder you can experiment with vinegar, lemon juice or bicarbonate of soda.
To maintain the colour of your silk ribbons, store them in a dark place and hand wash with a ph. neutral detergent if required.
You can buy mordants and modifiers readily online from any dye craft suppliers.
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