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Hello, I'm Sian Hutchings,
 and I'm an art and design lecturer.

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And today we're going to be
 doing bundle dyeing.

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OK, so it's a fabric dyeing technique,

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but today we're going to be using
 natural materials.

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So these are materials
 you can source from your garden.

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If you're going on a walk, you can source
 the materials in your kitchen cupboards.

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So a really accessible way

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to start fabric dyeing. 

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So tools you'll need
 and materials you'll need for

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this is just a plain white T-shirt
 or you could use socks

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or tea towels or bits of old cloth
 you've got lying around.

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You'll need some white vinegar, 

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which most people have in their bathroom
 or kitchen cupboards.

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It's just really great for cleaning,
 but also good for fabric dyeing.

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Your natural dyes. 

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So here I've got some flowers.

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So again, the more pigmented
 the color, the better.

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So flowers from your garden. 

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You know, it's the end of summer now,
 so you probably need to

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get rid of them anyway. 

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You can use stuff like turmeric.

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So if you've got turmeric 

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or curry spices in your kitchen cupboard,
 those are great, too.

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I've got some lavender, so it gets rid
 of the smell of the white vinegar.

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And I've also got stinging nettles.

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They're a really great dye. 

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Obviously, if you're using stinging
 nettles, wear gloves.

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I've got Blackberries
 and I've also got onion skins.

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And you can use any type of onion
 skins, red onions, brown onions.

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And you can also use avocado as well.

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So everything should be available already.

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You shouldn't even
 have to need to buy anything.

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I've also got a pot

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on a low heat, about 60 degrees.

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So you just want the water
 at boiling temperature.

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A stick or something that I can tie

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my t shirt around and a spoon.

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OK, so step one,
 if you've got all your materials.

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We just want to coat the T-shirt
 in the white vinegar.

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OK, so this is the stinky bit
 so you might want to hold your nose.

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And I'm just soaking the fabric
 in the white vinegar.

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And the reason we do
 this is it helps the dye.

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It helps coax the dye
 out of the material we're using.

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And usually, if you're doing 

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you know, if you're a fashion designer
 and you were doing

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fabric dyeing professionally,
 then it's usually a three step process.

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And we usually scour the fabric first.

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That just means washing the fabric.

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So you want to start with
 a clean t shirt, preferably.

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And then we would
 mordant the fabric and mordanting

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is using something like aluminum

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sulfate or iron or white vinegar.

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And this is the stuff that will help
 the dye and the colors last longer.

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And the reason why
 we spray the white vinegar

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first is we don't want
 to make our lovely design.

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And then spray and
 it goes woof and falls off.

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So I think that's enough. 

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Second step is really
 creating the pattern.

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I like to just throw
 everything on the plate.

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Obviously, if you're using stuff
 like nettles please wear a glove.

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So I'm just going to lay my dye material.

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Onto my fabric. Stuff
 like Blackberries, obviously,

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you can see the dye and the color
 coming out straight away.

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OK, so I think I've got enough
 Blackberries and nettles on there.

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And now I'm going to go in
 with some Marigold's.

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I'll take my glove off
 so I've got a bit more control.

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And if you're using like 

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flowers, they can be dried or fresh.

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It doesn't really matter. 

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But if you're using dried flowers
 I like to crunch them up first.

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So if you've got a pestle and mortar
 at home, you can ground them up in that

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and just sprinkle it over the t shirt.

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And actually, for natural dyes,

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you don't have to do -
 this is bundle dyeing.

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But if you want to dye a T-shirt,

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just one color, for example,
 you would do a very similar process.

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You have your T-shirt, but you would have

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lots of nettles or lots of Blackberries
 and you just boil them.

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And usually if you're if you're soaking it

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in one color, it's
 best to leave it overnight.

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So boil the product or the material
 for about an hour

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and then let it sit overnight,
 strain the dye material.

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OK, so get rid of the nettles
 and just keep the liquid.

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And then you would boil your t shirt

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or whatever you're using in
 that dye for about an hour.

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So once you've got your design in place,

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the next thing to do is
 we want to roll it up.

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And it doesn't matter
 which way you want to roll it,

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but we want to roll it
 maybe on a stick or something.

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Or if you've got an old broom handle,
 anything you've got lying around.

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Preferably not plastic,
 because we're going to be steaming it.

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And you just want to wrap it is tightly
 as you can around the fabric.

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And again, this is messy fingers.

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Blackberries are a really good one
 at this time of year

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because you can find them anywhere. 

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And they've got a really strong dye.

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And you can eat them as well.

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Preferably not after you've dyed it though 

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OK, so once I've got it
 wrapped up on my stick,

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I'm now going to use
 some string/yarn/thread.

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Anything you've got lying around 

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and I'm going to wind it
 as tightly as I can around the pole.

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Obviously, when we're using natural dyes,

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the color will fade over time,

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which is why we use the white vinegar.

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But the key here is that we're not harming

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the environment. 

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OK. And before I steam this,
 I'm going to give it

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another spray with the white vinegar
 just to make sure it's completely soaked.

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But as you can see, there's already color
 starting to come through.

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If you're doing this with children, 

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this might be the bit
 that you take control of

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and don't let them near
 because there'll be a lot of steam

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and it will be really hot. 

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If you've got something like a colander

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obviously you can put it in there
 and you can cover it

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to get more steam on to it. 

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But essentially now you've got the steam

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going onto the T-shirt
 and on to the fabric.

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You want to keep that steaming
 for about 50 minutes.

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OK, up to an hour. 

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If you want a more saturated color, it's
 even best to leave it overnight.

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So what you would do is cook it
 for an hour, take it off the heat,

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and before you unravel it and
 wash it, leave it overnight.

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OK, so it's been 

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about 40 minutes
 now, so I'm going to unravel it.

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Of course, like I said before,
 if you want to turn it off the heat now

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and then leave it to soak overnight.

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You would get the best effects. 

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You would get a more saturated color. 

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But for the purposes of the video,
 I'm just going to unravel it now.

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So obviously, if you leave it overnight,
 it will be fine,

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but if you're impatient, like I am,
 it is going to be hot.

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So just be aware 

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that the fabric will be hot. 

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And the great thing about natural dyes is
 you can find materials all year round.

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So obviously, September, autumn
 is the best time for Blackberries,

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but spring is better
 for nettles and docks wood.

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But also pine cones create a good dye.

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And then obviously food stuffs,
 you can get them all year round.

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So you could literally make
 a spring/summer, autumn/winter collection. Ta da.

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Ta da!

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So now what you want to do
 is obviously it's really messy,

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so you just want to rinse in cold water

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and remove any of the excess material.

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Don't eat the Blackberries
 because they probably won't taste nice now

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they've been soaked in white vinegar. 

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Obviously, with natural dyes,

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the color isn't going to last
 as long as synthetic dyes.

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So to make it last longer,
 I'd put it on a delicate wash

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at about 30 degrees,
 like you would do your wools

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or your woolen jumpers 

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And there you have it,
 there's your naturally die T-shirt.