Dyeing with Black Walnut

     

Walnut dye

Yesterday afternoon I decided to go ahead and dye with the black walnuts.  I just smashed the hull with a hammer and added the whole thing, nut and all to the dye pot.  I let this boil for two hours.  Then soaked the cloth overnight in the dye bath.  I noticed a nice yellow color when I cracked the green hulls so while the other pot was boiling I soaked the green hulls only in some cool water.  It had a nice golden shade.  I put some pieces of fabric in this pot also and let sit overnight.  In the morning this second batch was brown (there went my theory about the heat making them turn brown)  Anyway my cotton fabric turned an army green and after washing and drying was a greenish light brown.
         

 cloth with knots and rubberbands       cloth folded and pole wraped

                                      cheesecloth                      batting

 

I wrapped another piece of cloth on a pole squished it up and put it in the leftover dye bath. I will let this sit a couple weeks and see if it turns a nicer brown shade with age.

Last cloth in cold dye wrapped around copper
(will let sit for a few weeks)

                  1st two fabrics ready to be overdyed with a different plant dye.