Madder Workshop

Madder is called Rubia tinctoria. It creates one of the strongest colour fast red dyes and in this workshop we learned how to us Madder to dye fabric.

First of all, the Madder extract is mixed into a paste with warm water and t is then added to the dye bath and for 40-45 minutes. If the water gets too hot it will dull the colour so it must simmer not boil.

Whilst waiting for the dye bath to be ready we were busy preparing our fabric using the tie and dye method by wrapping stones collected from the sea front with bands around. Then the fabric is immersed into the water and left to soak for 10 minutes or until a desired colour change is reached.

We discussed how the plant was used historically and how it is currently used today. We looked at images of the plant and went through colour changes and modification methods which dyer’s achieve by adjusting pH levels of the water.