DIY Vegetable Dye for Fabric – and a beautiful rag-ribbon skirt

A tale of two halves today. For the first, I have turned all alchemist and tried my hand at something quite process driven which turned out to be a most calming way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. And for the second half an opportunity to return to my flighty, perhaps more intuitive style of creating. Today I am sharing with you how to make DIY vegetable dye for fabric, although perhaps not in the most conventional way. And then I have a simply beautiful mixed media craft which I hope will inspire your own creativity and with nothing more than recycled and old crafty bits and bobs, you might wish to make your very own unique piece for enjoyment in your home, do join me…

I have never considered myself to be much of a process driven kind of person before. Instead, I imagined I approach certainly my crafty time in a more, develop-as-you-go kind of manner. Yet maybe I am a little more process driven than once I thought, since working slowly and methodically to achieve the first part of today’s project, was much less dull than I thought it might be. With the kitchen radio tuned to some quiet background music, I located the juicer and set about chopping and juicing and sieving and pouring until I had a bowl each of carrot, beetroot and kale juice, my very own DIY vegetable dye for fabric. There was nothing more complicated than that; I then tested each cold, neat solution – the stuff us hardy ones enjoy drinking – and also an additional diluted version of the kale juice to see if there was any difference in shades of green. I also sieved a few times to make sure as many ‘bits’ as possible were removed.

Gathering together strips of vintage linen, torn cottons and delicate lace, I dunked various lengths into each pot and left them sitting over night, hoping each potion might soak its colour deep into the fibres. 

I remembered how much fun I’d had trying my hand at this craft and decided an assortment of rainbow rag-ribbons was just what was needed to offer as an alternative to tie around these which is a similar craft to the one we shall be making on my first ‘Crafts at The Little House with Whitewood and Linen’ workshop very soon.

These are the wet fabrics, having returned to them the next morning. And by the way, there was very little difference in the diluted and non diluted kale juice.

The dried result of my experiment affords a subtlety which suits my colour palette well; if you like vibrancy, you might try leaving your scraps in soak for longer perhaps. Although a word to the wise if you are dyeing with Kale. I wouldn’t be leaving your fabric in soak for too long. There was an unpleasant whiff in the kitchen the following morning which I am not sure would have been entirely manageable on day three. You’ll be pleased to know the odour eventually disappears when the ribbons are dry, pictured here. It is also worth mentioning, I haven’t entirely lost the plot quite yet by taking a photograph on my hallway floor. The natural light that day was so diabolical, I felt no app would have the means to portray the ribbons’ true colour likeness, so instead resorted to extreme measures.

The mixed media craft piece which follows was entirely inspired by me this week and in particular, the ribbon drying process. I am more than a little miffed I forgot to photograph that moment. Imagine if you will, endless strips of rags and ribbons pegged to a (plastic) clothes airer – the sort one secures their socks and undies to – flapping ferociously on the washing line during storm Eunice. There you go, no photo needed. This scene looked a little to me like a pretty peasant skirt, made up of shredded pastel cottons, so I set to gathering all I should need to create such a mini piece and happily sketched out my ideas.

I loosely based this craft on a mannequin you may recall from way back – she is set to make a comeback although when, remains a secret for now – and used thin craft wire to fashion her top half securing in place on a piece of vintage linen, with a few discreet over stitches.

I couldn’t wait to get started on the skirt and I’ve had a scrap of grey tulle hanging around for ever which I used as the underskirt. I simply folded over one end and using a needle and thread ran a gathering stitch along what would be the waistband, adding in strips of the dyed fabric and torn fragments of ribbon along the way, until finally drawing the thread tightly to create a simple skirt. 

As I began sewing the skirt to the fabric, I realised there could be a balance of weight issue once the finished piece came to hang on a wall, so I machine stitched a piece of torn and handmade paper to the fabric to give a bit of body to the final piece. If you don’t have a machine, fabric glue would work just as well.

Next the waistband – she had to have a name of course – and a delicate necklace using these teeny tiny brad pins And since the skirt is fairly transparent, I thought a scrap of romantic tissue paper as an under garment quite appropriate.

I hand stitched the finished skirt to the paper and fabric and fashioned a coat hanger from wire I used in this project wiping away any signs of rust with an old rag. And not for the first time I remember why a craft like this one or this or this appeals to me and I hope to you. Each crafty component of my piece can be swapped out for something you already have, every element I’ve used here has been recycled or cost next to nothing and thus no two end results will ever be the same. And here is mine… Grace, my mixed media project, resplendent in her ragged-ribbon skirt, fashioned from my very own DIY vegetable dye for fabric. Quite the craft for a frustrated seamstress who has no patience to learn how to make an adult version of such a perfect skirt herself… yet. Maybe one day.

Though not any time soon since you are keeping me extremely busy with forthcoming Craft Workshops for which I could not be happier nor more grateful. So for now I shall leave you to have a go at this rather delightful mixed media piece yourself whilst I go chase builders, clean, tidy, polish and cook and prepare for guests because very soon, I get to meet some of you in real life and I could not be more excited. Until next time…x

Please keep watching my Instagram for more information relating to forthcoming Craft Workshops. At the time this post was published, the following workshops are fully booked: Friday March 18th, Friday October 7th and Friday November 25th 2022. More details of the remaining workshops will follow shortly and there will also be a page dedicated to all Craft Workshop information on this website… coming soon!