Spin-Off – September 2019

72 Spin Off • http://www.interweave.com

Where I live, glossy buckthorn will leaf out

earlier than most other trees, and it often keeps its

leaves for longer than other trees. This provides a

substantial window for collecting leaves for dyeing.

I have not tried freezing the leaves and then dyeing

with them, but based on my experience with frozen

berries, I would be surprised if frozen leaves didn’t

dye almost as well as fresh leaves.

Green

Green is also an easy color to get from buckthorn. The

plant’s berries turn from green to red to blackish-blue.

To get green, you want to collect berries when they

have fully ripened to blackish-blue. Glossy buckthorn

produces ripe berries from July to October where I live,

with the fruit ripening continuously over this period,

so there is a large window for collecting. Berries can be

frozen and used at other times of the year.

Dyeing with the berries is as simple as adding them

to water in a dyepot, bringing it to a boil, and adding

alum-mordanted yarn or fiber. Buckthorn green has

proven to be lightfast and washfast, which is unusual for

color from berries.

Pink

Pink or a rusty red color can be produced from

buckthorn bark. The bark contains tannin, which acts

as a mordant, and no other mordant is required to dye

yarns and fibers. The process I use for dyeing with

bark is a fermentation bath, which uses an alkaline

solution to extract the dye over time. The recipe

included here uses fresh bark, which can be collected

at any time of the year. However, the bark is easily

dried and saved for later use.

Blue

When I discovered that I could get a green dye from

buckthorn berries, I couldn’t help thinking that where

there was green, there must be blue and yellow. Blue

is a notoriously difficult color to achieve with natural

dyes, particularly natural dyes that you forage or grow

yourself. Since almost all parts of buckthorn will give

Greens and blues from buckthorn berries on wool.

Pinks and reds from buckthorn bark on wool.

Safety First

• It is always a good practice to have dedicated
  dye tools, such as dyepots, spoons, stir sticks,
  blenders, measuring cups, etc. Keep them
  separate from tools used for cooking food.


• Be careful when foraging in the landscape and
  learn about the poisonous plants in your area.
  Wear gloves and long sleeves when working
  with new dye materials that might cause
  allergic reaction.


• Keep children and pets away from dyestuffs
  and reagents.