First thing's first... — The New Deal Museum

for more information about my work visit www.reb-ayse.com

Hi Folks!

Here is my first process video (ever!) It was a lot of fun to create and will give you an idea of the scope of preparation for using natural dyes :) Today we are going to learn about making soy milk (solely for the dyeing process, one should not consume the end result.. to make soy milk for drinking, please look for a recipe specific to that use!)

Enjoy!

-Reb Ayse

More information on how to evenly dye fabrics on Rebecca Desnos’ blog, which is where this image came from.

First things first, I’ve never used soy milk to pretreat my fibers before - you will see in future videos, I typically make printing pastes and mordant baths using things like alum and iron salts to modify and adhere the colors of my dyes to my projects. After downloading Botanical Colors at Your Fingertips by Rebecca Desnos, I was inspired to try something a little different… considering I’ve been saving skins and pits from avocados for months, I wanted to use an even more natural approach than some of the metal salt solutions I would typically use. The recipe in her book is simple:

125g raw soybeans
1 qt filtered water

Start by soaking the beans for at least 8 hours. After they’ve doubled in size, put them in your blender (I used my immersion blender) and pulverize them. Then, using a strainer and a muslin cloth, separate the liquid into another container. Add the remaining pulp back to your blender with a cup or two of water and pulse. Strain the same way, combining all resulting liquid. (You can repeat this step up to 5 times, I did this only 3 times, as it made more than enough milk.) I added 4 parts water to 1 part soy milk for the pretreatment bath.

After letting my fibers soak for 24 hours, I squeezed out any liquid and hung them on my drying rack. I will let them cure for a few days before I start experimenting.

Tomorrow, we will talk about making dyes from avocado pits! Thanks for tuning in, and remember, feel free to share your own creative pursuits through writing, videos or even photos by email to pr@gvartscouncil.org. I’d be happy to share your work as well!