How To Make Dye From Plants

By Kwadwo Opoku | Jan. 21st 4:21pm

A majority of African fabric is made from naturally occurring dye, but the secrets behind the plants used and and which plant creates a certain color is often overlooked. In this video, we explore some of the plants and their properties.

Indigo which is a very popular blue-like tint is made from the Indigo plant. This plant has been used for centuries in making blue coloured tints, which has been incorporated into several African Tie and Dye methods, such as Adire. Fabrics which were dyed in a light blue hue were often used in finding new patterns and layouts in symbol design, since this cloth typically made the other dyes stand out. This practice is thought to be the very first origins of creating a blueprint, a concept which still lives today in many form apart from fabric making, such as in architecture.