Marigold Dyeing. in Tales from the Spinning Siren

So here is the first attempt at dyeing with marigold. Im really pleased and excited by how this turns out.

First off we harvested marigolds. Red orange and gold. I read to dry them, but why dry if i can use them fresh! So i used fresh, Ill be drying for winter dyeing now!
I sprinkled alum in the water and put just enough water to cover the flowers.
I simmered for a while. Lord knows.. All evening? Off and on. to extract dye.

In another pot i prepped my wool, wensleydale and mohair, with alum sprinkled water with a dash of cream of tartar. Alum is a mordant that sets the dye, allowing the fiber to take up more dye and make it color fast. Cream of tartar acts as a brightening agent in marigold.

I tied fresh marigolds in mesh and set them in the simmering water of fiber.

you can see the color slowly leeching through the cream wool.

When that didnt work “fast enough” Is when i boiled the flowers. I strained the colored water over my wool. Then simmered the flowers again! lol!

Anyway this is what ended up happening in my dye pot!

Isnt that color beautiful?

today i strained the flowers, drained the dye water from the pot. I actually poured it into mason jars because there is still color. And rinsed my wool. Dried photos will come when it dries out!

I realized the flowers still had a lot of color to the body of the flower, But also the water. So i strained all the water into my dye pot, and am reducing the liquid down. I want it to fit into one mason jar instead of three. So ive got it simmering, sans flowers, to reduce the amount of liquid. It is mixed with alum and cream of tartar still. So its really ready for another batch of wool. Perhaps ill put some angora in it next :)

Wet wool wonderful. Yes really. THIS is the color, Of the wet wool, from MARIGOLDS! This is a natural dye. This is marvelous!

And some left over color in a mason jar. Its currently reducing on my stove.

First attempt was amazing! Now im on the hunt for more plants. I read that red elderberry does a beautiful red. I have several elder in my yard that i never use! Now i know what im doing with them! ( elder is a risk in my area, there is a poisonous plant that looks very very similar, but the berry has a white dot instead of being red)

So we will see. Im excited for this. This is exactly what i wanted to do all those years ago when i bought a bunch of chemical dyes. :)