Dye With Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Yarrow is another plant that enjoys the same kind of conditions that mullein likes. It a lacy looking perennial, growing to about 1 foot high. The flower heads yield another yellow dye in a different tone than mullein.

Yarrow has a good colourfastness with an alum mordant. It contains luteolin the same fast compound found in weld.

1. Extract the yellow dye compounds from the yarrow flowers using a mildly alkaline dye bath.
2. Simmering the flower heads alone will yield yellows, modifiers such as iron will give olive/green shades.
3. Pre-mordant your fibre with alum.
4. Cover the flower heads with water in your dye bath and simmer gently for 1 hour.
5. Turn off heat and leave to cool.
6. Soak the fibre in water in a separate container whilst the dyebath is cooling.
7. Strain – compost flower heads.
8. Return strained liquid back into dye pot and add 1 teaspoon of soda ash.
9. Stir well.
10. Add mordanted and wetted yarn to dye bath – gently submerge.
11. Raise temperature to 180 degrees F and simmer for 1 hour.
12. Turn off heat and leave to cool.
13. Rinse well.
14. Dry in the shade.

Buy Yarrow Seeds Here