can dye be made from iris flowers?

Okay, clearly, I'm getting a little weird from being snowed and iced in for so long. Heaven knows what put this in my head, but.....can you make dye from iris petals? I've had blossoms dribble color on the occasional tablecloth but it usually comes out, so I assume it would need a fixative. It's just that there's such an enormous range of color, and my daughter in law spins wool, and I wondered if there might be a way to make it work. Anyone know?

katie

Guess you'll need to experiment and let us know - what a great concept.

I can't say if they can or not. Here in New Mexico, there are lots of framed pictures of dried native plants and actual wool dyed with them. Those pictures **never include** iris and iris are native to the mountain areas of New Mexico. At high altitudes, moist meadows are purple with iris. I bet the indians, the masters of natural dyes, would have tried them.
But to find out for sure, try it with a few iris from your yard and a small amount of wool. Not sure about mordants.

good observation, pajaritomt. I think you're right about the indigenous people having used them if they worked.
:-)

I'm not a dyer....but often read over lists for natural dyes and have never seen iris listed. Interesting too, how plants can LOOK one color and then produce a different color in the dye pot. If you decide to experiment--share your results!

Yes, by all means. I have always found natural dyeing interesting, though I have never tried it myself. I did go to a spinning/weaving place in Thailand where they were using natural dyes. They smell awful!. One of the ladies with us was a textile artist. She said that when she went through her natural dye period, their whole house smelled rotten. The Thais were doing it in huge cauldrons outdoors.