Natural Dyeing in Guatemala

With our weaving projects in Guatemala we also dyed yarn and fabrics using local natural dyes at a natural dyeing collective in San Juan La Laguna.

Natural dyes are typically prepared with a variety of materials from plants, trees, insects and minerals, combined with different mordants to create a range of colors.

We primarily experimented with three materials:
Cochineal (insect that is harvested from nopal paddles): producing red and pink colors
Pericon (yellow medicinal plant that can be used fresh or dried ): producing yellow and orange colors
Avocado Leaves: producing a baby purple-blue color

Step 1

Fibers and fabrics are prepped by soaking in a bath of cold water.
Dye materials are prepped by chopping and cochineal bugs are ground in a mortar and pestle.

Step 2

Prepped dye materials are added to the pots of boiling water (pre-boiled while prepping dye materials).
Stir and let the dye release from the materials for up to an hour.

Vibrant pinks using cochineal

Step 3

Once the dyes have released from the materials, you can remove the pots off the heat. Then add your fibers and fabrics into the pots of dye.
The longer you leave the fibers in the pot, the deeper and darker the color gets.
You can even change the tone of the color by dipping in different mordants as shown above.