Dying Yarn and Fabric

[Mariam]

We have a living history farm nearby and once a year they invite the public to check it out. I went to the farm day for the first time this year. There were all kinds of demos on everything, but the one that caught my eye was plant dyes. They did not really explain it, but I saw the finished product on yarn. The colors were beautiful. I know they had some kind of pot on a campfire. Does anyone have any experience with using plants to dye stuff?

I thought it might be nice to make a list of plants that can be used to dye, too.

 

[claudine]

These colors in the picture really are beautiful!
In the past, I used to dye my hair with dried oak leaves. I cooked them and then I dipped my hair in the brown decoction. It worked!

 

[Becky]

That's so cool, and I love the socks!

I remember reading that chamomile can be used as a yellow dye, but I've never tried it. Claudine, I'm very impressed with your homemade hair dye technique!

 

[claudine]

Haha, thank you, when I was a teenager, I loved experimenting! I remember I tried to dye my hair with nettles, black tea, chamomile tea and lemon juice. Dried oak leaves are the best.
Now, I slowly learn to like my natural hair color

 

[Shellyann36]

Kudos to you @claudine I have heard of using chamomile for dye jobs. I have also heard of using the black hulls from black walnuts for a dye as well. This does work for fabric. I tried it when I was a teenager. Never tried it on my hair or anything.