Tag: woad

First adventures with woad

Well, I’ve finally bitten the bullet.

I’ve read dire warnings about the importance of being patient with woad harvesting, because:

  • you need a lot of leaves to get a decent amount of dye, and
  • the chemicals that provide the blue dye take time to develop in the plant.

I only have a few plants, and they don’t look very big. However, on the whole people who write about natural dyes are working in larger quantities than I am. They need enough yarn to knit a jumper, or the fabric to make a tablecloth. I’m working with light weight scarves that weigh 7-8g each.

I decided this week that I needed to make a start and see what happened. I used the vinegar method, which tends to extract less pigment, but it is quicker, so I thought it would be a good guide as to how things were going. After all, I didn’t even know how much a woad leaf weighed, so I didn’t know how much I needed.

Woad is a member of the cabbage family, so I wasn’t surprised that as I chopped it up there was a smell of overcooked cabbage. It got quite strong, so I was pleased to mask that smell by covering the chopped leaves with a mixture of cold water and white vinegar. I kneaded it for 5 minutes, strained off the liquid, and repeated the process. That produced a bright green liquid, which I reckoned would be enough for 5 scarves.

I thought I would play safe, in case it is too early in the season to get a lot of colour. I put in two white scarves, one of a pale mustard that comes from buddleia, and one that had been dyed a golden orange with dahlias. I tied them all up in various ways to make patterns.

The scarves soaked in the dye bath for about an hour, and then oxidised on the washing line until they were dry. I left two more scarves in the dye bath overnight, to soak up any remaining colour.

I’m pleased with the result, but I found that this dye doesn’t penetrate the folds quite as much as others I have used, so I have rather more undyed fabric than I expected. With the gold scarves that I’d previously dyed with dahlia and buddleia, I was expecting the result to be green. However, because of the lack of penetration there is rather more gold left than I had bargained for. I might have another go at those two…

Did I tell you I’ve got some woad plants?

img_5297.jpgI don’t know if you have ever tried, but buying woad plants is quite difficult. Seeds are quite easy to come by, but I don’t have fantastic conditions for seeds and seedlings. One of the reasons I am starting a dye garden is that I can’t cope with vegetables.

I live in an old windmill, so you won’t be surprised to know that it is quite windy here. My theory is that I need to grow varieties that are marked weather resistant, particularly if they are also marked wind resistant. At a minimum, I go for dwarf. The less you stick up, the less you get hit by the wind.

So I grew veg from seed. When they got to the hardening off stage, the “sheltered” place I found for them just wasn’t quite sheltered enough. I replaced them with plants from the local garden centre, but something ate them.

So after a couple of years of trying, I’ve decided that a vegetable patch won’t work. Before I resorted to shrubs, I started my experiments with dyeing. My research into useful dye plants that are likely to grow here yielded quite a lot that could only be grown from seed.

So I prioritised those that I couldn’t find for sale in plant form.

But then when I tried to buy woad plants, all the websites said they were sold out.

Bother.

So I was really pleased when I found these.  They have obviously had an ordeal in the post. They were beautifully packed, but it has been quite warm recently. They looked so squashed and tired when they arrived that it just didn’t seem fair to take a picture of them.

But now, after a few days of regular watering on a warm floor, next to a nice big window, they have recovered.  I’m going to plant them out!