There's something freeing about taking your dye projects outside. A field, a garden, the the front porch or even a little corner of the back porch can become your studio, giving you room to experiment, get messy, and let curiosity lead the way. Working with natural materials outdoors feels playful and instinctive: gathering plants, arranging cloth, placing colour in the sunlight, and discovering what happens. It's a chance to step away from perfection and back into the joy of making, with the landscape itself becoming part of the process.
A couple of weeks ago, we headed to a field with the kiddos and sprinkled Maiwa extracts onto mordanted silk bandanas.
Find our instructions on how to start your own bundle dyed project here on our website dedicated to natural dyes at naturaldyes.ca.
Solar dyeing is one of the most interactive ways to bring the delight of natural dyes into everyday life — letting the strength and warmth of the sun do the slow, steady work heat usually does.
Our friend Liz from Dogwood Dyer used our silk bandanas and scrunchies for a beautiful solar dyeing project with her daughter, working outdoors. They harvested flowers and plants from their garden and layered them onto pre-mordanted silk. With the help of alum and iron, the flowers slowly released their colour and over time, the silk absorbed soft, shifting tones—blushes, smoky greys, and sun-warmed yellows.
It's a good reminder that some of the best dye studios don't have walls at all — just sunlight and a bit of curiosity.
