Sunday, May 28, 2017

Avocados Are Pink

Hidden inside the avocado is something rather pink.  And this shirt was dyed with that something pink.


I never really noticed before, but if you really look at the pit of an avocado, it actually has a pinkish tint to it.  This was my first real natural dyeing project.

I saved the skins and pits from about 20 avocados in a bag in the fridge.  I simmered them in a pot (an old stainless steel pot) of water, just enough to cover them, for about an hour.  The smell was pretty interesting - kind of sweet.  Then I strained off the liquid and put it back on the stove, this time with two old shirts that I had scoured for 30 minutes - one cotton and one linen.  I wanted to see if they would take the dye differently. 

I then simmered them for an hour.  The color that you see in the pictures is pretty much how they looked after an hour.  This being my first time dyeing with avocado, I decided to leave the shirts in the dye bath overnight.  I don't think it really affected the color much at all. 

Also, I think both shirts took the dye pretty much the same.  There is not much difference in the final color - though the linen one might be a tad lighter.




I am really happy with the results.  I am not typically a pink wearing person, but this pink feels so very natural.  It's the sort of pink that really goes perfectly with brown, which is the color I wear most.  I think there are actually some brown undertones in the dye.

I also wanted to find out what shade of pink, just a quick dip would produce.  I found a remnant of lace (I think it's cotton) that I decided to dye.  It came out in a very light shade of pink with the same undertones.



One thing I want to note is that the dye did not take completely even.  I was a bit disappointed at first, but every time I wear it, I feel less and less that way.  It is a really nice feeling to wear something that you've dyed naturally.  And, some of the unevenness is due to staining that was there before I dyed the shirts.  The linen shirt is actually my garden work shirt.  It had all kinds of stains on it.  And the cotton shirt is one that I've had for awhile.  The dyeing did make some stains more apparent than before, but again, it sort of just adds to the overall natural feel and look to the shirt.

I am saving up more avocado skins and pits right now for another dye pot.  I think I will double up the amount of material that I use next time to find out if the shade of pink can be made any darker.  This has been a great fun!


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