COLORFUL ²

"Buntmachen" (making things colorful) is our term for everything that gets its color from natural dyes. The focus is on bundle dyeing. You place plant material directly onto the fabric, roll it up tightly, tie it off, and steam it. During this process, the pigments from the material migrate into the fiber and remain visible exactly where the plant material was placed.

We dye with flowers and leaves, bark, seeds, and plant extracts, as well as kitchen scraps like onion skins, avocado pits, or coffee grounds. Many of these colors are hidden in items that would otherwise end up in the organic waste bin.

To ensure the color lasts, we prepare the fabric with a mordant. It bonds the dye to the fiber and also helps determine the final shade a plant produces. The same onion skin can thus result in a warm gold or, with a little iron, a dark olive green. You won't see what the plants have left behind on the fabric until you unroll it.