This is a blog post on fabric dyeing with weld. Weld is also known as reseda luteala. It is actually a weed that grows wild in the woods. It is one of the few yellow dyes that are lasting (not fade easily) dyes if it is used correctly.
So far I haven’t yet to have any success in growing weld at home. As the seeds bought will need time to germinate. Therefore I got some dried weld online from an art and craft supplier called George Weil. It is inexpensive to buy and is they do deliver to my front door.
Fabric dyeing with weld
In the dried form, I use boiling water to soak the weld so as the bring out the colours. It is left to soak for about a few hours. If the fabric doesn’t dye well then it is put again in the dye pot. At the times the weld flowers, plant tops or stems take longer to extract the colours. So just soak for much longer than a few hours. Sometimes the WOF (weight of fabric) can affect by how strong the dye yields as well. I find that silk fibres do get some lovely nice pale yellow colours out of weld.
I do some mordants as it helps to bright out different shades of yellow from the dye. Alum mordant tends to give brighter colours. Whereas iron tends to darken the colours. Here is a link to write in more detail about mordants in natural fabric dyeing. There are many different methods when it comes to preparing or dyeing the fibres or fabric with mordants. As it would affect how the colour comes out.
Using fresh weld
Fresh weld was also used in this experiment and the result is fantastic much better than dried flowers. I simmer the weld tops then let them cool overnight to let the colour steep. then the next day I simmer the fibres/ fabrics in the dye and the results are amazing. The yellow isn’t as strong to make green with shop-bought indigo to get green colour but nevertheless, it’s a nice yellow colour. The colours seem to work much better than protein fibres like silk and wool rather than cellulose fibres.
I also over-dye the fabrics again so as the obtain darker shades of yellow. Silk, wool, cotton fibres were used for this experiment. I have also printed the fabric with leaves and logwood iron blankets. This is so as to create patterns on bigger pieces of fabric. I like how it gives a nice light summer feel with its pale yellow colours.
Thank you for reading and dropping by. Here is more on fabric dyeing with logwood.
