peelings; the fruit of the blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, and pokeweed; 

 purple iris flowers ; mosses ; peach leaves ; red roses ; sumach leaves ; turmeric 

 and willow leaves. 



TESTED DYE RECIPES 



Aster, Chinese {Callistemma chinensis) 



The coloring principles callistephin and asterin are found in asters, 

 especially in deep purple-red flowers. The asters used in testing this recipe 

 were rose pink. 



Light Greenish-Yellow Wool: chrome mordant 

 Colorfastness : good 

 1 pound of wool 

 Y2 bushel fresh aster flowers 



Use chrome mordant (see pages 67 to 68). Cut the flowers into small 

 pieces, cover with water and boil for 10 minutes. Strain out the flowers, 

 then add water to make a dyebath of 4 to 4)^ gallons. Before immersing 

 the mordanted wool in the dyebath, rinse it and squeeze out excess moisture. 

 Immerse wool; heat the dyebath to boiling; boil gently for 20 minutes, 

 rinse and dry. 



Barks 



The barks of many trees are good sources of brown dyes. A wide range of 

 tones from the very lightest tan to deepest brown can be. extracted from the 

 inner bark of such common trees as oak and maple. Wool can be dyed in 

 the complete range of tones, while only lighter browns can be produced in 

 cotton. 



Most barks are best collected in the fall or winter, but resinous ones may 

 be gathered in the spring. The inner bark can be used either fresh or dried : 

 fresh barks are usually most potent. If barks are stored, they should be 

 dried carefully first, then put in a place free from dampness and mold. 



The coloring principles of these dyes are combined with a type of tannin ; 

 because of the presence of tannin, fabrics dyed with bark extracts often do 

 not retain their original color, becoming darker brown upon exposure to 

 light. This change can be prevented by treating dyed materials with certain 

 chemicals that fix or remove excess tannin such as potassium dichromate, 

 ferrous sulfate, and copper sulfate which are used in dye methods 2, 3, 

 and 4 on the following pages. 



Many other barks not included here will produce fast colors in textiles. 

 Experimentation with local materials and application of basic methods of 

 extracting dyes from tree barks can result in attractive and durable colors. 



71 



