It looks like cabbage in the garden, but don’t be mistaken, woad (Isatis tinctoria), isn’t a culinary ingredient. Although a member of the same botanical family as broccoli, and mustard, woad is primarily used for dyeing fabric in gorgeous shades of blue.
Traditionally, woad leaves were picked by hand, crushed with wooden rollers and compacted into small balls. The dried balls were moistened and allowed to ferment for several weeks before being redried and pounded into a deep blue powder. No longer favored commercially, woad has been rediscovered by hand dyers.
Denise Lambert is a Frenchwoman who is dedicated to resurrecting a worldwide interest in woad. Her company, Bleu de Lectoure, cultivates, harvests and processes the plant into pigments, and sells products that have been colored with it (www.bleu-de-lectoure.com)
“Extracting the dye from the leaves is a multiday process,” explains Denise. “The leaves need to be chopped and soaked in an alkaline bath. Submerged cloth comes out yellow. When air hits the fabric, the color instantly changes first to green, then more slowly to blue. It’s a sight to behold.”
Depending on the fabric’s fiber content, the number of times the material is dipped, and the strength of the solution, the results range from pastels to soft azure to inky. “I have been perfecting my dyeing recipe for many years,” says Denise. “But, whether it’s your first time of your four hundreth, tinting fabric with woad is always a thrill.”
Stronger solutions and repeated dipping into the vats produce rich dark hues.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE: Everyday items—bottle corks, pipes and even compact disks can be used to create a variety of batik-like effects. Dipping already patterned fabrics into woad produces spectacular results.
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES: Dowels are used to tend the vats and fish out items being dyed. Experimenting with solid, striated and splatter techniques, workshop participants dyed garments, tablecloths, yarn and loops of lace. Fabric, lace, and notions yield heavenly results when dyed with woad.
When we are done with Coved19 you might like to take some classes and make it a family affair! This particular workshop was held by Denise Lambert several years ago through The French General in L A (https://www.frenchgeneral.com). Hopefully classes will resume in a not to distant future. If you are going to “get the blues” this is the way to do it!!
Meanwhile here is NATURAL COLOR, a beautiful book of seasonal projects for using the brilliant spectrum of colors derived from plants to naturally dye your clothing and home textiles. ENJOY!! xoxoxoxo
