Foraging For Dyestuff

from Mindfully Foraged: Naturally Dyed Textiles for Wellness. Rosy Heywood

Mindful Design

With sustainability in mind, I ventured out in my local area to forage for plants. I kept a record of location, plant species and amount/weight of plant collected. Through these foraging trips I gained a greater understanding of the environments different plants thrive under, the seasons and which plants are available near me. I also grew an understanding of the dangers some plants pose and to be extra careful when collecting plants and researching the species before picking and using as a dyestuff. Some plants contain toxins and poisons so vigilance in identification is key. At this stage of the project I began to reflect how foraging is in opposition to mindfulness.

Foraging is an act of actively looking for something rather mindfulness in contrast, is inactive and not reaching for anything in particular - it is simply being mindful of the present moment. I considered the heightened awareness of mental health in the UK and the booming wellness industry. Foraging for mindfulness has organically grown through the desire for better mental wellbeing. My project evolved to provide a commentary on this through natural colours as a symbol of foraging and the process of slow and thoughtful textile processes to symbolise mindfulness.

Applying Colour

Printing With Titanium Oxalate

Before deciding not to use metal salt mordants at all, I experimented with using titanium oxalate as a printing paste. I read that it is used in eco-printing to create bright yellow/orange tones and it particuarly has a strong reaction with tannins (wildcolours). I created the printing paste using titanium oxalate powder, gum tragacanth and water and applied the paste using a brush onto pre-mordanted (alum and iron) fabrics. I then dipped or submerged the fabrics into an oak gall dye bath. The fabrics mordanted with iron produced a deep dark grey colour and those treated with alum created a beige colour. Both mordanted fabrics turned bright orange where the paste was present. This clearly is a very strong method of printng onto naturaly dyed cloth however as it uses metal salts, I decided not to take this technique further. But it did inspire me to research similar but plant based methods to print fabric.

Mindful Design

Medicinal Dye Plants

Following the discovery of Ayurvedic dyes I decided to explore this further. According to The Ayurvedic Institute’s website “it is considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science. In Sanskrit, Ayurveda means “The Science of Life.” Ayurvedic knowledge originated in India more than 5,000 years ago and is often called the “Mother of All Healing.” (The Ayurveda Institute, 2021). Another fashion brand that use healing dyes is Monsoon Blooms and on their website they state “Our cotton is coloured according to the wisdom of Ayurveda at a small dye-house in the southern forests of Kerala. Using 100% natural plant dyes rich in medicinal properties, the fabrics are known locally as ‘healing cloths’ used more for health than for fashion.” (Monsoon Blooms, 2021). They also state the plants used by the dyers and what the cultural significance and healing properties are. These plants include neem, holy basil, tumeric and aloe vera. I decided to research medicinal plants further and find out how exactly we can benefit from the medicinal properties of plants through using them as a dye for clothing and textiles.