DIY: FLORAL DYEING WITH HIBISCUS PETALS

Have you ever dyed fabric with flowers + plants? 

If you've ever had the Mexican drink, Jamaica (hah-mai-kah), or sipped on hot hibiscus tea, you're familiar with the Hibiscus sabdariffa flower petals.

Their rich red color makes for a beautiful natural dye!

I love adding any of our flower elixirs to the dye to infuse my fabrics with energetic qualities I'm looking to cultivate.

It is said that natural fabrics will retain the good vibes of the flower essences!

Joy Juice, which I used with my hibiscus dye, is always a great choice, but you can get creative: Quiet Mind or Inner Peace for pillowcases to help you sleep, Infinite Love for clothes to help increase self-love and magnetism, Radiant Energy for curtains to help clear negative enegry and set better boundaries ... the possibilities are endless!

SHOP ELIXIRS

Here's how to make + use floral dye:

Pour water into a pot + cover the surface of the water with Hibiscus flower petals. Bring to a boil. Then, lower the heat + let simmer until the water is dark red.

Dip your fabric into the pot and leave it in the red tea while it simmers. If you want a light pink, less time is needed; if you want a darker pink or a deep bluish red, leave the fabric in the tea for longer.

This time I dyed a white silk pillowcase, making a gradient by dipping only one end of the pillowcase, and then leaving the very edge in the dye the longest (I actually left it overnight, pinning the white edge upright with clothespins, so the dye wouldn't spread to the white area).

It is said that natural fabrics will retain the good vibes of flower essences! So if you have a natural fabric like cotton, linen or silk, add a dropperful of your flower elixir of choice.

I added Joy Juice, to infuse the fabric with joyful vibes to induce laughter + fun.

I love working with natural floral + botanical dyes, because it reminds me of the vast beauty + rich abundance that exists in this world we live in. In the past, I've also used coffee (brown), clove (gold), chlorophyll (green), turmeric (bright yellow) and more. Floral + botanical dyes are complex, unpredictable and full of surprises.

Watch the how-to video here:

And when you need a short creative fix, or want to express yourself through color, it's easy to do this quick project without a lot of prep or cleanup. I love sharing ways to seamlessly weave exquisite experiences into your daily life that reconnect you with nature + inspire you.

What creative projects do you love?

Love + flower petals,
Katie