Tanekaha leaf & muka dyed with it
If I were going to write a book on natural dyes, using NZ native botanicals, this image would be the cover.
This time of the year, December to March/April, has become our season for natural dyeing using our NZ native botanicals.
It's warm, the days are long & summer in to autumn is when the plants we use seem to be at their best.
Birds (& most insects too I think) are past the busy time of their breeding season & if there is an abundance we feel it's ok for us to be gathering plant based resources*
This time of the year, December to March/April, has become our season for natural dyeing using our NZ native botanicals.
It's warm, the days are long & summer in to autumn is when the plants we use seem to be at their best.
Birds (& most insects too I think) are past the busy time of their breeding season & if there is an abundance we feel it's ok for us to be gathering plant based resources*
So far this season we have made several dye baths from different parts of 4 different plants**
The first two dye baths were made from leaves of Tānekaha & Hīnau.
We collected the fallen leaves from under the trees.
We dyed white cotton calico, muslin netting & muka in all the dye baths.
we also dyed a few odds & ends which I've mentioned separately in the relevant section.
The first two dye baths were made from leaves of Tānekaha & Hīnau.
We collected the fallen leaves from under the trees.
We dyed white cotton calico, muslin netting & muka in all the dye baths.
we also dyed a few odds & ends which I've mentioned separately in the relevant section.
We’ve pretty much duplicated the colours we obtained last year; beautiful reds from the Tānekaha especially when they shifted with the alkaline of ash & an earthy, brownish yellow from the Hīnau.
The third dye bath was from the green prunings of some young Tōtara.
This dyebath took quite some time before there seemed to be enough colour within it & finally after 5 days we obtained beautiful soft peachy colours from it.
This dyebath took quite some time before there seemed to be enough colour within it & finally after 5 days we obtained beautiful soft peachy colours from it.
As part of the exploration we put some fabric & muka from these 3 in to paru***
We obtained brown, as expected from the Tānekaha & a dark grey/green black, as expected from the Hīnau.
Initially the colour from the Tōtara after being in the paru was a gorgeous soft grey however this has shifted to a gentle brown.
It’s an absolutely beautiful colour & I must admit it’s actually what I had anticipated we might obtain from Tōtara, simply because it’s a conifer.
It’ll be interesting to experiment with dried branches & leaves of Tōtara in the future.
We obtained brown, as expected from the Tānekaha & a dark grey/green black, as expected from the Hīnau.
Initially the colour from the Tōtara after being in the paru was a gorgeous soft grey however this has shifted to a gentle brown.
It’s an absolutely beautiful colour & I must admit it’s actually what I had anticipated we might obtain from Tōtara, simply because it’s a conifer.
It’ll be interesting to experiment with dried branches & leaves of Tōtara in the future.
We collected fallen berries from the Tawa trees which are behind the shed.
It’s been a super abundant season & although we’ve had flocks of kererū coming & going, coming & going, there have still been many berries falling to the ground.
Once the berries are on the ground we noticed nothing eats them, in fact, nothing even touches them so we decided it would be ok to collect some & make a dye bath.
It’s been a super abundant season & although we’ve had flocks of kererū coming & going, coming & going, there have still been many berries falling to the ground.
Once the berries are on the ground we noticed nothing eats them, in fact, nothing even touches them so we decided it would be ok to collect some & make a dye bath.
Wow ! did that ever end up being a pleasant surprise - especially as the dye bath has changed with each new piece of fabric or muka we put in.
We have obtained 5 different colours on the cellulose fibres & a completely totally unexpected colour on a random piece of silk I put in late one night !
There are 2 pinks, 2 greys & a purple on the cottons, muka & linen thread and the silk is almost black.
We have obtained 5 different colours on the cellulose fibres & a completely totally unexpected colour on a random piece of silk I put in late one night !
There are 2 pinks, 2 greys & a purple on the cottons, muka & linen thread and the silk is almost black.
Definitely a dye bath that is super sensitive to pH changes.
Such an adventure & so much fun.
With time we’ll be able to see whether the colours we have obtained are colour & light fast.
Such an adventure & so much fun.
With time we’ll be able to see whether the colours we have obtained are colour & light fast.
What’s next ?
One of the beautiful Tawa behind the shed
Tawa leaves next - I mean how could we not !
We collected enough dried fallen leaves a few months ago. So no reason not to.
We got some beautiful shades last year so it’ll be nice to see what we get this year.
Maybe we’ll follow that with Rewarewa … who knows
I’ll keep you posted for sure.
*We gather the dried leaves, prunings & berries from trees we have on our property.
The Tawa are mature forest trees on the perimeter of our covenanted bush area.
The other trees we gather from are all part of a wetland restoration project we started about 16 years ago when we retired a hectare of badly degraded land & started planting native trees in to that area.
It’s such a wonderful thing to be able to watch the changes over the years, to know that we have helped to create this & in return are being given this abundant resource, simply by being patient & nurturing the area back to health.
**Here's a list of the trees we've gathered from this season
Tānekaha: Phyllocladus trichomanoides
Hīnau: Elaeocarpus dentatus
Tōtara: Podocarpus totara
Tawa: Beilschmiedia tawa
***Paru is iron rich mud which is used for iron tannate dyeing & traditionally, by Māori, used to dye muka
The Tawa are mature forest trees on the perimeter of our covenanted bush area.
The other trees we gather from are all part of a wetland restoration project we started about 16 years ago when we retired a hectare of badly degraded land & started planting native trees in to that area.
It’s such a wonderful thing to be able to watch the changes over the years, to know that we have helped to create this & in return are being given this abundant resource, simply by being patient & nurturing the area back to health.
**Here's a list of the trees we've gathered from this season
Tānekaha: Phyllocladus trichomanoides
Hīnau: Elaeocarpus dentatus
Tōtara: Podocarpus totara
Tawa: Beilschmiedia tawa
***Paru is iron rich mud which is used for iron tannate dyeing & traditionally, by Māori, used to dye muka
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