British Tickseed Coreopsis

Coreopsis means “always cheerful,” and provides a lovely sunny presence wherever they make their home.

Colours:
Strong yellows, deep oranges/ bronze colours.
Best results on protein fibres.

Ingredients:

Whole dried tickseed coreopsis flowers

InFO/ABOUT:

Alternate names: coreopsis tinctoria, tickseed, calliopsis.

Coreopsis whole dried flowers, grown in the British Isles with natural permaculture farming practices which build soil health. Used for bundle dyeing to create direct prints on textiles and paper, or for steeped in water to create a dyepot for immersion dyeing.

Native origins: North America

Herbal and traditional uses:

Used to treat upset stomachs, by making a tea with the roots. In folk medicine a tea without the roots has been drunk to conceive a female baby.

Recipe:

50- 100% WOF

50 grams will dye 100g of protien fibre a good deep colour. Not recommended for cellulose fibres as much as protein fibres.

To make a dye, add enough water to create the space required for your fibres to move around freely in.
Bring to a simmer and keep at 82 celsius for 30 mins. Strain using a sieve and cheesecloth. Add pre-wetted fibres and simmer for 60 mins or until desired depth of colour achieved. Remove from heat and cool. Rinse, wash and air dry.

Refer to my “Botanical Dyes” book for further info on dyeing instructions for cellulose/protein fibres, mordanting etc. You can find bundle dyeing instructions in my book or the “Bundle Dyeing With Flowers” video workshop tutorial.

Fastness:

Medium fastness to sunlight, rubbing and washing.

Mordants/Modifiers:

Alum brightens and deepens orange/rusts on animal fibres and oranges on plant fibres. A tiny measure of an alkaline such as soda ash will shift orange to more reddish shades. Acidic modifier such as lemon juice with shift towards yellows.

Ph sensitivity:

Sensitive to ph levels.
Alkalines shift to more reddish colours/ acids to yellows.

ORIGIN/ Harvesting technique:

Grown on a farm in Guernsey using naturaul farming techniques, without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fungacides.

Transport:

Air courier from Guernsey to English mainland in cotton bags/cardboard box
Shipped from Botanical Inks in Bristol via Royal Mail.

Packaging:

Packaged in a 100% compostable zip lock paper pouch and put inside a biodegradable corn starch mailer bag - safe for health and environment.