Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. Main Page - Tarotpedia. Dyeing with Blackberries. The blackberries growing in and around my garden are now way past their prime with all the heat we had last week. They are far too overripe for eating and preserving. Seeing that it seemed like such a waste I decided to go out the other day and pick all that was left. Extremely berry stained fingers later, I ended up with enough berries to dye 4 ounces of wool and one silk scarf and even freeze some for later use. I had previously applied an alum mordant to both the wool yarn and the scarf.
To make the dye, I first mashed up the berries before adding them to my pot of water. I then brought this berry mixture to just under a simmer for about 30 minutes. I was very careful to not get the dye bath too hot as this would make the berries a more tannish color due to the tannins being released. I then added my wet fibers to the dye bath and turned the heat on slowly.
As you can see the silk scarf really took up the color of the blackberries. Tagged as: Blackberries, Natural Dyes. Wicca 1 - Lesson 1 ( Part 1) Gypsy Magic.