Marigolds Natural Dye

Fibers: Cotton, hemp & linen

Mordant: Oak Galls

Dye: Marigold flowers

Darker colors altered with: Ferrous Sulfate (Iron)

Marigold is a bright and sunny flower that's easy to grow in your own garden. Not only is it a great addition to any landscape, but it can also be used to create beautiful and vibrant dyes for fabric, yarn, and even paper.

To create a marigold dye, you'll need to harvest the flowers. You can use fresh or dried petals, depending on what you have available.

To ensure that your dye material will be light and wash fast, you must mordant your fibers before you dye. A mordant is a substance that helps the dye adhere to the fibers, resulting in a longer-lasting and more vibrant color. Some popular mordants for marigold include alum, tannins and iron. I used oak galls for my mordant for these fibers.

To dye fabric or yarn with marigold, start by soaking your material in warm water to prepare it for dyeing. In a separate pot, let the marigold petals soak in warm-hot water for about an hour to extract the color. Then, strain the petals out of the water and add your pre-soaked material to the pot. Let it swim for at least another hour, stirring occasionally to ensure even dyeing. The longer you let the fibers swim, the more saturated the color will be.

Once your material has finished, remove it from the dye bath and rinse it thoroughly in cold water. You can repeat this process as many times as you like until you achieve your desired color.

Not only is marigold a beautiful and versatile natural dye material, but it's also eco-friendly and sustainable. By using natural dyes like marigold, we can reduce our reliance on synthetic dyes and minimize our impact on the environment.