Not only is red cabbage yummy to eat but its a good friend to the budding dyer! I love to cook it with apples, onions, brown sugar and red wine vinegar (as shown below) and it goes exceptionally well with pork, but I think its going to work well with my natural dyeing experiments.
I say "think" because I haven't as yet completed the experiment. I only used half a cabbage for cooking, so threw the other half in a big pot of water and simmered it for about half an hour.
After only about 10 mins I got a lovely bluey-purple colour ...
which then got darker ....
and later turned into a red-purple (maybe I should've stopped after 10-15 minutes)
After it cooled in the pan, I strained it into an old milk carton and its all ready and waiting to meet my other friends - the fabric and threads.
Today is a mordenting day for the materials - trying to get it done before it rains again, as I'm working outside so as not to contaminate the kitchen.
Will post the results shortly. Wish me luck!
Just wishing you luck, hope I'm not too late!!! I think my OH said the colour of red cabbage and other similar things changes with how acid/alkali the solution is (he's a chemistry teacher so I assume he knows what he's talking about!) so I'll be really interested to see the results. I bought a natural dye kit before Christmas but of course it's not been opened yet - one day I'll try it out. xx
ReplyDeleteLove red cabbage! Usually have a tub about at Christmas. Good luck with the dying of the juice.
ReplyDeleteI am anxious to see the results. Which mordant are you using?
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see your results. I tried red cabbage for dyeing once but got a disappointing grey although I can't remember what mordant I used. Good luck!
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