Hopi Sunflower Seeds

Creating Dye Stock

Hopi sunflower seeds have been used for centuries by the Hopi people of northeastern Arizona as a natural dye to colour their textiles. The seeds produced a rich and vibrant purple colour that could be easily extracted and used to dye wool.

To create a dye stock with this plant, I collected the materials listed below.

Materials:

• Hopi sunflower seeds
• Water
• Large pot
• Strainer or cheesecloth
• Stove or heat source
• Mordant (alum and cream of tartar)

Instructions:

1. Start by gathering your Hopi sunflower seeds. You will need a good amount to create a dye stock, so it’s best to collect as many as possible.
2. In a large pot, add the sunflower seeds and cover them with water. Use a 1:4 ratio of seeds to water, meaning for every cup of sunflower seeds, use four cups of water.
3. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the mixture simmer for about two hours, or until the water turns a purple colour.
4. Remove the pot from heat and strain the mixture using a strainer or cheesecloth to remove any solids. The resulting liquid is your dye stock.

And there you have it – your very own Hopi sunflower seed dye stock! You can use this dye to colour a variety of wool fibres.

Once I had created this dye stock, I added iron as a modifier. J put two cups of dye stock in a glass jar and add the right amount of iron. Then I dipped my previously dyed mini skeins into the glass jar and put the jars in a shallow pan with low heat; then, I let everything soak overnight.

This was a lot of fun and I hope I have encouraged you to try natural dyeing. I have kits available to try your hand at natural dyeing. Each kit comes with pre-mordanted mini skeins and my own Hopi sunflower seeds.

Cheers,

Keli