Can Cotton Yarn be dyed using fruits?

[CatieCrochets]

I was wondering if cotton yarn can be dyed using bing cherries? They are a really pretty color.... At least my fingers are now from pitting them.

 

 

I have a ball of white cotton yarn I am crocheting a swimsuit with, and I wanted to dye it with these, but I wasn't sure if it could be done.

 

Is it possible? Or will it not work with cotton?

 

Thanks!

 

Catie

[nicolep]

I was wondering if cotton yarn can be dyed using bing cherries? They are a really pretty color.... At least my fingers are now from pitting them.

 

 

I have a ball of white cotton yarn I am crocheting a swimsuit with, and I wanted to dye it with these, but I wasn't sure if it could be done.

 

Is it possible? Or will it not work with cotton?

 

Thanks!

 

Catie

 

Cotton has a bad habit of bleeding even when it's dyed with commercial dyes. I don't know 100% if it can be done, but I'm leaning towards, "No." I know that there are things that can help set color though.

 

Hopefully someone with a little more knowledge on the subject can answer better.

[LaVonneK]

Never tried, but I know blackberries make pretty colors on my white t shirts. So You would think that you could.

[DogCatMom]

There doesn't seem to be any reason it couldn't be dyed using fruit juices. Here's a C'ville thread from 2007 with a link to a tutorial about dyeing cotton yarns. The preparation is important, so wash and prepare the yarn as she indicates.

 

You'll need a fixative, or mordant, to ensure that the color stays where you want it--in the cotton yarn--and doesn't just fade right out.

 

I have very little dyeing experience, but my one very successful experiment was back in high school Drama. I was a member of the Roman crowd to whom Marc Antony delivers his "Friends, Romans, countrymen!" speech. We were each given cotton muslin and told to "dye it from food you have around the house: onion peels, beet juice, nut shells. Something the Romans might have had."

 

I got the muslin completely wet and dumped all the beet juice into the kitchen sink along with the very wet muslin (my mother didn't want me to use any of her pots or pans). I swished it around until it looked pretty much the same color everywhere, then let the water out of the sink. I rinsed thoroughly--but can't remember whether I rinsed with hot or cold water--and took the muslin back to school.

 

It worked very well in our production of "Julius Caesar" as my tunic, but I don't know how long the color lasted. We had to turn in our tunics after the production. For all I know, the thing is still somewhere at my high school in Tampa....

 

I think the dye worked because of all the vinegar in the beets.

 

DCM

[Real Deal]

Technically berries, beets, etc. will stain cotton nicely, so you really can dye with them, but the color will end up a lot lighter than you probably expect.

 

You won't lose much by giving it a try. Be sure to wash and rinse your yarn first.

 

I'd use as much berries as you can with as little water as possible in an enamel pan, so you can heat it gently on the stove. Add salt or white vinegar as a mordant.

 

You have to rinse until no color bleeds out. I test the yarn on white paper towels in order to really know.