For those interested in Natural dyeing:
We wildcraft a lot of our dyes...
And we have the ready ability to make mordants!
Fantastic isn't it.
Let's back this up a little.
Where I live (Coast Salish Territories, Vancouver BC) there are SO many dyes to go collect. But there is magic in making your own mordants. I collected rusted pieces of metal from one of my garden plots. That is what i'm using for the iron mordant. For the copper, i'm using some thich copper wire i've had laying around the studio for a while!
For the iron, I put the rusted metal into a jar. I then put in 2 parts water, and 1 part white vinegar. I labeled the jar as such, and put it out on my porch.
For the copper, I put the copper wire into jars. I then filled the jars with 1 part water, and 1 part white vinegar. I also labeled these jars, and put them out on the porch.
These jars living on my porch have good company. As of right now there are 12 jars of various things being solar dyed. (A few of them are experiments to show what different mordants can do! Also, there are skeins of hanging naturally dyed yarns, and pots of dye plants growing. I think that all of these things together make the house look quite witchy, and that makes me happy!
So now I wait! The jars of copper mordants will turn blue, and they will be ready to use. The iron jar will become the colour of light tea, and it will be ready!
I can refill these jars again and again with their respective water/vinegar solutions, and continue to get my own homemade mordants!
