Dyeing with white cosmos flowers
Yes even white flowers give color!
The pale pigments in white cosmos tend to result in delicate imprints, often soft yellows or creams. Incredibly beautiful! Here's how to get the best results:
Bundle dyeing with fresh cosmos
Fresh white cosmos will create bright yellow shades. I love using an aluminium pipe to wrap the fabric around which helps press the flowers firmly against the fabric. This will create clear shapes. Steam for 5-8 minutes and unroll immediately.
If you'd like to learn the basics of natural dyeing and printing with flowers (and more), check out my free guide on everything I wish I knew before I started printing with flowers. You can find it here.
Watch the video here.
Bundle dyeing with pressed white cosmos
Yes, even pressed white cosmos still contain a lot of color for printing! The petals look almost transparent but will still give color using the bundle dyeing method. The pressing beforehand helps flatten the flowers, making the prints more detailed and easier to manage.
The prints will slowly become a stronger yellow while the fabric dries.
If you want to learn how to sew place mats into pouches, click here.
Flower Hammering with fresh white cosmos
Flower hammering with white cosmos flowers is a fantastic way to imprint their natural beauty directly onto fabric or paper, creating soft, delicate designs. For this technique it’s important to use mordanted & DRY fabric.
If you're interested in flower & leaf hammering as well as preparing your fabric so that colors from natural dyes last beautifully and stay light- and wash-fast, I’d recommend my Flower & Leaf hammering tutorial. It covers all the essential techniques and foundations you need to get started with flower hammering and achieve vibrant, lasting results.
Let me know if you give these techniques a try :)
And happy natural dyeing!
