How to Make a Dye From Fruit

Making the Dye

1). Gather fruit depending on the color dye you wish to achieve. Use strawberries or cherries for pink dye, raspberries for red dye, blueberries or blackberries for blue dye, juniper berries for brown dye or elderberries for purple dye.
2). Cut the fruit up into tiny pieces and then place it inside of a pot. You will need half as much chopped fruit as you want dye. For example, if you want to make 3 cups of dye, you should chop up 1.5 cups of fruit.
3). Add twice as much water to the pot as you have fruit. If you have 1.5 cups of fruit in the pot, you should add 3 cups of water.
4). Place the pot on the stove and bring the fruit and water solution to a boil for 30 to 40 minutes.
5). Allow the fruit and water to sit for 24 hours before bringing it to a boil again for another 30 to 40 minutes.
6). Strain the liquid using a food strainer with small holes to get rid of excess pieces of fruit. The dye is now complete, but you will have to prepare your fabric before you can dye it to ensure that your natural dye will adhere to it.

1). Pour 1 quart of water into a large pot, and then add a small amount of either lemon juice, vinegar or baking soda. Each of these substances are known as mordants that are used to fix the fabric so that natural dyes will stick to it. It is important that you add your mordant of choice to the water and never the water to the mordant.
2). Place the fabric you wish to dye inside of the pot and simmer it in the water for one hour. Rinse the fabric with cold water until the water begins to run clear. Blot the fabric as dry as possible with a paper towel.
3). Put the fabric into the pot with the dye. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer it for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the fabric has turned the color you want. You can alternatively leave the fabric in the dye overnight and skip the boiling and simmering.
4). Remove the fabric from the dye, rinse it with cold water and hang it outdoors to dry in the sunlight.