Staghorn sumac with her bright red berries and leaves full of tannins, representing the bounty that comes with the heat of august and the end of summer. As one of the first plants I ever dyed with, sumac will always hold a special place in my heart and I look forward to sumac season all year long.
Staghorn Sumac is one of my favorite native Ontario plants, it has long been harvested for food, medicine, and natural dyeing.
A truly versatile plant that is extremely hardy and can often be found growing in ditches and along highways.
Below is a quick tutorial on how to natural dye with staghorn sumac berries using a bundle dye method. Together we will learn how to pull out a beautiful rich purple dye out of these bountiful little berries.
Choosing Your Fabric
A good rule of thumb when you are natural dyeing is to dye a natural fibre. My preferred fabric of choice is 100% silk, in all of my experience with natural dyes, nothing picks up color quite like silk.
However, if you do not have silk on hand other animal based fibres like wool and cashmere are going to have great dye retention.
I’ve also had a lot of success dyeing with plant based fibres like linen and cotton, and even semi synthetics like rayon. I find that high quality cotton and linen, like 100% SUPIMA cotton or 100% organic linen, are going to retain colour better than linen blends or low quality cotton.
I like to source my materials second hand from thrift stores!
Pretreating Your Fabric
Making sure you properly pre-treat your fabric is the most essential part of dyeing. If you do not properly pre-treat your fabric, the colour will not transfer or will not last. My preferred method of pre-treating my fabric is with Alum.
Here is a good tutorial on how to pre-treat with Alum.
Harvesting Sumac
This resource has a very helpful map on areas in North America where staghorn sumac can be found.
Just look for the red berries!I have a lot of success finding sumac in ditches, parks and down reforested paths. Staghorn sumac is very abundant in Southern Ontario, making it a great plant to harvest and dye with. However, it is always important to remember a few important rules when foraging:
- Sumac is an important source of food for wildlife in the forest, ALWAYS leave more than you take. A good rule of thumb for me is take one and leave ten.
- Never take from the first patch you find, wait until you can ensure there is abundance in the area and go from there.
- Never ever ever harvest in protected forests/conservation areas. It is illegal to harvest in any protected area and as stewards of nature it is extremely important that we let protected areas be.
Dyeing With Sumac: Materials
Okay so you have your fabric and you have it pre-treated, lets get to dyeing. Here is a list of all of the materials you will need:
- An aluminum pot (you cannot use it for food once its been used for dye, so get yourself a pot just for dyeing. I got mine from the thrift store)
- A strainer (again it cannot be used for food after)
- Rubber gloves
- String
- A stovetop
- A sink
Dyeing With Sumac: Instructions
- Fill your pot up 2/3rds with water and bring it to a simmer on the stovetop (to the point where it is producing steam)
- Add your strainer on top of the pot
- Lay your pre-treated fabric as flat as you can, either wet or dry is fine.
- Sprinkle sumac berries all over the shirt. Be creative with this, make a pretty pattern or do it at random. You can choose how much colour you want by how many berries you add. I also like to add in other pops of colour with marigold or coreopsis petals.
- Roll your fabric up nice and tight and wrap it with unbleached cotton rope
- Put your rolled up fabric in the steaming basket and cover with a cloth
- Let steam for about 20-30 minutes.
- Take out of the basket and wash off the berries (I do this with a hose outside)
- Do a final rinse of fabric with a light detergent and warm water.
- Hang to dry, avoid hanging in direct sunlight as it will cause the colour to fade.
- Enjoy your new plant dyed piece <3
Depending on the fabric you use and the acidity of the water you wash the piece in after, the print will vary.
For example: washing your fabric in hard water or a mixture of baking soda and water will cause the sumac to pull more purple. Softer water will make it pull more pink.
Here are some of the pieces that I’ve dyed with sumac:
Thanks for reading, if you’re interested in purchasing a one of a kind plant dyed piece of clothing you can shop on my website :)