How to Make Vegetable Dyes

Native Americans are known for their colorful embroidery of clothing and household objects. They became masters at extracting the natural dyes contained in vegetables and plants. By purchasing just a few readily available products from any supermarket, you, too, can create vegetable dyes almost identical to those the Native Americans used.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Newspaper
• Food grater
• Carrots
• Beets
• Red cabbage
• Measuring cup
• 3 plates
• 3 plastic bags
• Scissors
• 6 plastic cups
• Paper
• White cotton fabric
• White cotton-blend fabric
• Paper towels

1. Cover the work station with newspaper. Use the food grater to grate 1/8 cup each of the carrots, beets and red cabbage. Place the grated vegetables on separate plates. Set aside and wash hands free of any natural vegetable juices.

2. Place each grated vegetable into a plastic bag and add 1/4 cup warm water to each. Seal the bag tightly. Carefully knead the sealed bags on the work station for approximately 2 minutes. The water in each bag starts to color.

3. Use the scissors to make a small cut in the corner of each bag. Pour the colored water into a cup. Repeat this step with the other two bags. Discard the grated vegetables remaining in the bags.

4. Cut the paper into three strips measuring 1 1/4 inch by 6 inches. Do the same with the cotton and cotton-blend fabrics. Make a small incision in the cotton fabric. Separate the two fabrics on the work station.

5. Place one strip of the cotton fabric into each cup containing the dye. Repeat the process with the remaining cotton and cotton-blend fabrics. Allow all strips to soak overnight. Lay paper towels on the work station.

6. Remove each fabric strip from the dye, placing them on the paper towels. Allow to dry and then fill three clean cups with warm water. Separately add the fabric strips to each cup.

7. Allow them to soak for 2 minutes. Some of the dye will begin to fade. Remove when the fabric reaches desired color.