Rebecca Desnos

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Recent Posts

  • Dyeing with nettles
  • How to dye even colours (and why you might not want to)
  • Avocado Dye : FAQs / Top tips for pink
  • New napkins and thoughts on creating less waste
  • A shift in mind and space – what’s the future of the magazine?

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  • I just had to share one more photo of this pink scarf dyed with Linden/Tilia leaves🍃💕 . A few weeks ago the leaves made a caramel shade, then I discovered they made pink... I gathered some more leaves this morning with the hope that I can make some more pink dye! 🤞🏽 I’ll let you know how it goes. . This is organic cotton muslin from @greenfibres and it’s pretreated with soya milk following the step-by-step in my dye book Botanical Colour at your Fingertips. Then I made the dye with the leaves using my usual method in an aluminium pan. The stripes were made by tying fabric strips around the length of scarf very, very tightly so the dye didn’t penetrate through and left white stripes. . I never used to like pink until I began botanical dyeing. Now I can’t get enough of the soft pink shades that nature has to offer. Have you experienced the same? Which colours do you now love?
  • Buddleja blooms 💜 and goldenrod flowers 🌾 on a range of cellulose fibres - all pretreated in soya milk using the method in my dye book Botanical Colour at your Fingertips 💌🌿 . The buddleja (purple flowers) didn’t disappoint. The intense yellow colour is just how I remembered it from last year 😍 It still seems incredible that purple flowers could give such a strong shade of yellow. . The goldenrod flowers made green again which I was thrilled about 💚 I made green last week but wondered if the aluminium pot had something to do with it.. so this time I tested it in a stainless steel pot but still made green! Swipe across to see a comparison photo. In reality the aluminium pot made a slightly cooler tone of green, but there isn’t a huge amount of difference. . I think I’ll use up the dye by painting some patterns on paper. I also had the idea for dyeing a scarf lots of different shades by simply dipping a section of the fabric into different dyes. That sounds like the kind of easy and low maintenance project I could do right now! . What about you? What are you dyeing/testing/thinking about this week? Which plants have caught your eye lately?
  • Summer in my dye pots 💜💚💛 . 🌾 I’m testing a stainless steel pan with the goldenrod this week. I made green last week in my aluminium pan and wondering if the metal makes a difference. . 💜 Also I’m trying two types of buddleja. Last year the lilac-coloured buddleja made a glorious sunshine yellow and I’m excited to see what happens this year! . I’ll give all the flowers a very gentle simmer in water and let them stand for a few hours. Intense heat can dull colours and I want to bring out the brightest, clearest shades possible. . I always use the method detailed step-by-step in my book Botanical Colour at your Fingertips, except this time I’m testing the difference between stainless steel and aluminium pots. I’m intrigued to see if that’s the factor that shifts the goldenrod dye to green. There are always so many things to test with natural dyeing... and lots of surprises along the way! . What are you dyeing/making/crafting/sewing this week❓ Have you dyed with these plants this summer too❓
  • Did you see the behind the scenes of these experiments on my Stories the other day? I’ve saved them in a Highlights folder now 🌼 . I basically had loads of fun splashing around dye made from these Globe Coreopsis flowers that I’m growing on my balcony. I’ve been saving and drying the petals all summer. The green paint is from goldenrod flowers - on the bottom right of the photo. . You can make a very quick watercolour paint by taking just a pinch of petals and putting them in a tiny jar or bowl and pouring a small amount of boiling water over them. Just like making tea - the colour begins to extract right away. . Later, I was cutting some lemon to add to a jug of water and I felt compelled to squeeze lemon juice over the dye. To my delight, it turned neon yellow immediately! You can see that on the cloth on the lower left side of the photo. It really is an “acid yellow”! My son also had lots of fun painting with the petal watercolour. He insisted on making his own pot of paint 😄 . Then we made up a solution with water and baking soda and tested the reaction with an alkali. It made the yellow dye turn a dark orange, almost red! So exciting! And the baking soda fizzed when it touched the lemon juice. He loved that part. . I had my thrill from splashing some dyes around on paper and fabric.. loving every moment of making patterns. And he was captivated by the colour changing dye.. and it gave us lots to talk about as we painted. We both learnt so much that afternoon and had the best time. . I don’t know how the colours will last after washing the fabric, as I haven’t tried yet. I’ll iron the fabric (the heat will help bond the dye) and wash in a few days and see. The fabric was pretreated with soya milk with my usual method in my book (Botanical Colour at your Fingertips). I’m loving the colours on paper though. Those will last as it definitely won’t get washed. . Hope there’s some weekend inspiration for you in this post ☺️ Try making watercolour paints with other plants... it’s a really simple way to play with botanical colours. . Have you painted with dyes before? I’d love to hear about your experiences 🌿
  • This pink scarf that I dyed with linden (Tilia) leaves 🍃 is ready to go to its new home. I couldn’t resist dyeing some green ribbon with the pot of leftover green dye from the goldenrod flowers 🌾 . The fabric is all cellulose 🌿 ~ organic cotton muslin scarf and bamboo silk ribbon ~ and it’s all been pretreated with soya milk as per my book/eBook Botanical Colour at your Fingertips (available on my website or on Amazon) 💌 . The pink and green are perfectly complementary and it was pure chance that it worked out this way. My son was asking the other day about opposite colours and we were making colour wheels together. Then I noticed that these pink and green dyes are intact opposite on the colour wheel. Such a happy discovery! . What are your favourite colour combinations from plant dyes? 🌈🌿
  • A little bit of painting with plant dyes. Green from goldenrod flowers 🌾, orange from globe coreopsis petals 🌼 (flowers that I’m growing on my balcony) and brown from tea 🍂 . I used the goldenrod dye from earlier this week and made the other two colours by pouring boiling water over the petals and tea leaves. It’s a quick way to make watercolour paints and have a play! . I think I’m most excited about the strong orange colour on the cloth from the coreopsis! I’ve been collecting and drying the flower heads all summer and have a bowl full of crispy dried petals. . This is my version of 15 minutes of me-time. What are you making/crafting/dyeing/sewing at the moment?
  • Goldenrod dye 🌾 It’s a summer tradition and I’m always eager to see what the dye colour will be. Amazingly these goldenrod blooms made green dye 💚 I used an aluminium pan as usual, and the fabric was pretreated with soya milk. My dyeing method is written down step by step in my book Botanical Colour at your Fingertips. I was expecting much more of a yellow: in previous years I discovered that the unopened flowers gave green, and open flowers made yellow. But these flowers were fully open and made green dye. Such a lovely surprise! There are two articles on goldenrod dye in my latest Plants Are Magic magazine ~ volume 3 (available on my website www.rebeccadesnos.com). Erika @erikabmo writes about the terroir of natural dyes - specifically how the flowers give different colours depending on the weather. (Actually I wonder if our very hot and dry summer is the reason for my green dye). Ginny @myrtle_sweet writes a beautiful piece about feeling a connection to her mother by following her dye recipe from decades ago. Have you dyed with goldenrod ❓ What are your best dyeing tips ❓ My tip is to not heat the flowers too much - I prefer a low heat and a longer soak.
  • Organic cotton dyed with linden / Tilia leaves 🌿 This colour was a lovely surprise 😍 The last time I dyed with these leaves it made a caramel colour! It was a couple of months between dye experiments.. It’s incredible how one plant can give different colours through the seasons. I created the stripes by tying ribbons of fabric around this piece of fabric. The dye didn’t reach under the tied off areas so stripes were formed. It’s one of my favourite methods for dyeing large pieces. Rather than putting the fabric into a dye pot loose and getting an uneven colour (as I don’t have a pot large enough!), I’d much rather create a subtle pattern and get a more even result. What’s your favourite way to dye fabric? And have you found that plants give you different colours through the seasons? 🌿

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