This week I enjoyed dyeing with weld! Weld, also known as Dyer’s Rocket, is an ancient dye used for millennia to dye fibers and cloth to vibrant yellow shades. It is known to have been used as early as Roman times, and was used extensively throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. Since yellow is a primary color, weld can be used to create yellows, greens, oranges, and more, by mixing with other dyes. It makes sense that it was used so enthusiastically for so many years.
Next year I will attempt to grow my own weld, but this time I purchased some from Sarah at Farm and Folk. Her naturally dyed, hand quilted quilts are absolutely magnificent. She has been generous enough to write a book with her dye formulas, Quilt Alchemy. I bought it immediately after it was published and have really enjoyed reading it and using some of the recipes. I have a goal of making a naturally dyed quilt someday, and have been slowly dyeing quilt fabric.
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Making the Weld Dye Bath
Dyeing with weld is easy! To make a dye bath with dried, chopped weld, you need to consider the weight of the fibers you’d like to dye, and how deep of a shade you want to achieve. You will weigh out your weld based on a percentage of the weight of your fiber. For a strong yellow shade, I decided to do about 35% of the weight of my fiber, or WoF. Ratios from 5%-35% WoF will give you a range of yellows, from pale to bright. I had about 10 ounces of fiber, so I used a little less than 4 ounces of dried weld. If you use less weld, you will get a paler color, and more weld will produce a deeper color. My fiber was formerly dyed pale blue with indigo, so I was hoping to get vibrant yellows with greens mingling throughout the lot.
Put the weld in a large pot of water and heat to a gentle simmer. Hold at that gentle simmer for one hour. Do not boil the weld, this may alter the color.
After one hour, strain out the liquid from the plant matter, collecting the liquid into a large pot. I use these really nice fine mesh strainers that fit over a stock pot or five gallon bucket. A few tiny seeds worked their way through the mesh, so I recommend putting a cotton bandanna or cloth napkin over the strainer to prevent that from happening. This strained liquid is your dyebath, and it’s ready to use.
Preparing the Fiber
When dyeing with weld, you must use natural fibers, and those fibers must be mordanted. I used alum as a mordant for the wool I dyed this time. For mordanting instructions, read here. For the cotton, I purchased Dye-lishus cotton, which doesn’t need to be mordanted due to a special treatment. This type of cotton also requires much less dye. Read more here.
Before adding the fiber to the dyebath, soak it thoroughly in water. In the video below, I forgot to do this. Soaking the fiber before dyeing will help you achieve a more even color.
Weld Dyeing Process
Add the soaked fibers to the dyebath. If dyeing wool or other animal fibers, be sure the temperature change from the soaking water to the dyebath is minimal. Either use a cool soak and move to a cool dyebath, or a hot soak and move to a hot dyebath. Do not move animal fibers from a cool soak to a hot dyebath. Sudden temperature changes can felt animal fibers instantly.
Once the fiber is in the dyebath, heat the water to a gentle simmer. Hold the temperature there for one hour. Then, turn off the heat and let the fiber cool in the dyebath. Remove the fiber and rinse until the water is clear. To avoid agitating your fiber, rinse by soaking it in a pot of water for about thirty minutes. Drain and repeat until the water is clear.
If the dyebath (not the rinse water) is still richly colored, consider adding more mordanted fiber to use up the rest of the dye. Heat to a near simmer and hold for about an hour. Sometimes your dyebath will turn out to be exceptionally rich.
The Finished Product
I was very happy with the bright, clear yellow shades I achieved on wool and cotton! I really like the variegated yellow and green wool that was formerly dyed a blotchy pale blue with indigo.
All of these shades will make their way into my shop soon in various forms! Head over and take a look at what I’ve got for sale. Your purchases support me and my bunnies, my family, and Louisiana fiber farmers.
Thank you for all you do to support Spindle and Spoon Homestead. Whether you’re a fiber artist purchasing my spinning fibers, or a curious person watching my videos, or making purchases through my affiliate links, it all helps, and I couldn’t do this without y’all!
Want to learn more about natural dyeing?
Read my posts about growing and dyeing with indigo:
How to Extract Indigo from Leaves
Mesmerizing Indigo Dye: Two Simple Projects with Fresh Leaves
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