Grow-It-Yourself Dyes!
Ms. Duerr, 36, intended to show how easy it is to create amazing hues and colors simply from boiling water on your very own kitchen stove. The formula has been an open secret since the days of Pliny the Elder: fill a pot with water, add a basket of leaves and a square of silk, bring the potion to a simmer. Then wait for the magic to happen. Although the process of making all natural dyes has died, Duerr feels that there is a bloom of interest to begin making all natural dyes again. In Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, a new dye garden and Community Supported Agriculture program will begin this spring. The Textile Art Center is helping to start the garden.
