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Bundle dyeing: Berries

Dye Experiment Materials: 

  • raspberries

  • blueberries

  • blackberries

  • (pre-washed) wool, silk, and cotton fabric (1 yard minimum each)

  • pot (not used for cooking)

  • steamer

  • mallet

  • uncolored twine or string

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*I used fresh berries, not frozen.

**I recommend getting sticks or wooden rods to tie your bundle around. I tried doing it without them and my fabric got burned a little. 

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Left to right: wool, silk habotai, and cotton broadcloth

Fabric preparation: 

  1. Add 1.5 gallon of  water to a pot.

  2. Mix 8tsp of alum with 1 cup of hot water.

  3. Bring pot to boil and add fabric.

  4. Simmer pot for 1 hour. 

  5. Let pot cool down until fabric is retrievable.

  6. Rinse fabric under warm water.

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Bundle process:  â€‹

  1.  Lay out fabric on top of tarp or dropcloth.

  2. Place berries where you want them to make impact.*​​

  3. Pound berries into fabric. 

  4. Fold fabric in half (or as many times as needed to make it compact enough).

  5. Roll fabric together. 

  6. Wrap twine around cloth to secure fabric bundle.

  7. Fill pot with water so it does not touch steamer.

  8. Place bundles in steamer basket.

  9. Leave bundles in pot for two hours, flipping the bundles over every halfway. 

  10. Let pot cool down and leave the bundles over the pot. 

  11. Leave bundles overnight to absorb color.

  12. Unravel bundles and rinse fabric under warm water to clean the fabric of plant matter. (I recommend getting a giant trashbag to remove the majority of the fruit matter from your fabric. Or rinse fabric off with a hose outside if possible.)

  13. Leave out to dry.

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Bundles after steaming

© 2020 by Alyssa Domenico

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