Lately I have been taking some courses from the fabulous Makelight on how to improve my photography for instagram and blogging. It is an amazing, supportive community full of lovely, creative people from all walks of life and I have learnt so much from them all. Having been inspired to add some props to my photos I decided to try my hand at dyeing some beautifully soft muslins using natural dyes and food colourings. It was soooo much fun. I cleared a space on the kitchen island (not an easy task in this house as everything seems to get plonked on there), gathered together whatever I had in the house, which turned out to be some strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, turmeric and food colourings and set to work. The food colourings were easy as that just meant adding a few drops to the water and letting the muslin steep in it for a short time. I then rinsed it out under cold water, wrung it out and hung on the line to dry. I tried out gel colours and liquid colours and I would have to say that I definitely got a more even result from the liquid colours as the gel seemed to leave darker spots on the muslin where it hadn’t quite completely dissolved but I quite like the effect anyway and will definitely use it.
The food colourings were easy as that just meant adding a few drops to the water and letting the muslin steep in it for a short time. I then rinsed it out under cold water, wrung it out and hung on the line to dry. I tried out gel colours and liquid colours and I would have to say that I definitely got a more even result from the liquid colours as the gel seemed to leave darker spots on the muslin where it hadn’t quite completely dissolved but I quite like the effect anyway and will definitely use it.
Next I got started on the natural dyes. I put the fruits in different pans on the hob and covered them with a little water and let them boil until the fruit started to break down. At this point I mashed them down a little to get more colour out and let them bubble gently for a few more minutes before straining the liquid into a bowl, making sure to squeeze every last drop of juice out of the fruity pulp in the sieve. I added the muslin to the bowl and allowed to steep for a short while before rinsing under cold water, wringing out and hanging on the line to dry.

If you look at the pictures below you can see my results and from left to right they are pink gel colouring, blue liquid colouring, raspberries, blueberries, turmeric and strawberries. If you look closely at the pink food colouring one you can see the darker spots.

I am very happy with the results. I think my favourites so far are the food colouring ones as they gave a softer colour but I really like the purple shade from the blueberries and the deep yellow from the turmeric as well. I had a blast experimenting and I will definitely be doing it again. I am wondering what would give me a dreamy lime colour and a lovely grassy green.