Marigolds & Saxon Blue

Just a quick post.  I've been doing more natural dyeing with Marigold and overdyeing with Saxon Blue.

Saxon Blue is a dye made from a solution of indigo in sulfuric acid.  I purchased mine as a liquid extract.

This is a shibori dyed silk scarf.  I tied it for the resist and dyed it in a marigold dye bath.  I retied several of the resists and left several of the resists as originally tied. Next, I placed it in a Saxon Blue dye bath.  This resulted in the three different color patterns of white (remained tied for both), yellow, and blue.  The green background is from the combination of yellow (Marigold) overdyed with blue (Saxon Blue).

Next I dyed 5/2 cotton yarn for an upcoming weaving project.  This is my first time dyeing cotton.  I used aluminum acetate as my pre-mordant.  I was going for a gold, light blue, and light green.  As you can see, I came out with something quite different.  

The top yarn is 100% dried marigold to weight of yarn.  The middle yarn is 100% dried marigold overdyed with about 5% Saxon Blue to weight of yarn.  The bottom yarn is about 5% Saxon Blue to weight of yarn.  

Some Reflections

I think this marigold to Saxon Blue ratio was too strong, at least on cotton. However, it worked well on the silk scarf which was dyed in the same dye baths.  

 

Also, I may have needed to rinse the marigold yarn better before putting it into the Saxon Blue dye bath because I believe it contributed to the white yarn dyeing green rather than blue.  Better yet, I would try dyeing the blue on its own, separate from the overdyeing bath.

Nonetheless, I like the end result even better that my planned colors.  It is a lovely gold-green gradient.

For more on dyeing with marigolds, see this post.

The Saxon Blue dyed silk scarves have been a bit hit!  So, I'll be adding these two scarves along with the above multicolor scarf to my online shop.  Check it out!