Acorn dye
Dye Experiment Materials:
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425 grams of pin oak acorns (whole or broken)
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(pre-washed) cotton voile and broadcloth, silk habotai, and linen fabric (I got my fabric from Dharma Trading.)
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alum
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pot (not used for cooking)
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strainer
Clockwise starting from top left: silk habotai, linen, cotton broadcloth, cotton voile
Fabric Preparation​
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Cut fabric into numerous 6x6" squares.
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Pour 3qt of water into a pot bring it to a boil.
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Mix 1.5 tsp of of alum with 3/4 cup of hot water.
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Add alum mixture to boiling pot.
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Add fabric to pot and let it simmer for one hour.
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Let fabric in pot cool down.
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Once the pot is cooled down, take fabric out and rinse it under water.
Dye bath
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Measure out 425g of acorn matter.
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Fill pot with water halfway or so all the acorns are covered by water.
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Bring pot to a boil and let dye bath simmer for two hours.
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After two hours, strain the dye bath and discard the acorn matter.
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Bring pot to a boil and add fabric.
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Let fabric in pot simmer for 45 minutes.
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After simmering, turn off heat and let fabric sit in pot overnight and cool down. (I left my fabric in for an additional 17 hours.)
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Rinse fabric under warm water until the water runs clear and the fabric is clean of any acorn matter that wasn't strained out of the dye bath.