18th Century Fabric Dying | Georgian January Challenge

Over of Instagram, the lovely Dames a La Mode is hosting her third annual Georgian January Instagram challenge, and I thought that I would also use the challenge to learn a bit more about the 18th century. So I am going to try to write a blog post every week(ish) inspired by her prompts. To kick things off she gave us 9 whole days of colour, so I decided to look into how fabrics were dyed! Lovely soft confectionery colours are a staple of the eighteenth century so it seemed appropriate.

There is a lot of information on this topic, and I am not expert. This is just some neat information I have found and I encourage you to do your own research if you want to really learn how to dye fabric. This is more an exercise in understanding for me, but I am glad to take you along with me.

Dyes were most commonly plant-based dyes (very rarely animal) and these plant-based dyes did a much better job dyeing animal fibres such as wool and silk than linen or cotton. In wool and silk, almost any naturally achievable dye (i.e. not a synthetic dye) was possible. Green was a particularly tricky colour, needing at least two dye baths (twice the work), but extant examples do exist alongside vivid reds, blues, yellows and rich browns. Of course, paler pastel version of all these colours exist as well, and I suspect it was because they were not only fashionable but also easier and cheaper to make. However, some plant-based colours were easier to achieve (not to mention lasted longer) than other. This is why we see a lot of red and blue throughout the century. They were relatively easy and reliable colours to achieve on a variety of fibre types.  To my surpise black is a harder colour to dye taking up to 4 baths to acheive even and rich colour. It seem the richer and darker the colour, the more expensive too!

From Left to Right: Green Silk Round Gown c. 1775 from The Met; Blue Silk Round Gown c.1725-89 from the Met; Red Chints Cotton and Linen Gown c. 1780s from the Rotterdam Museum

Cotton and Linen fabric were much more limited in their colour retention (linen really only holding red and browns) but of the two, cotton was much easier and the fabric of choice for the typical chintzes/block prints of the century. In my research, I stumbled on a wonderful video by The Met of The Art of Making Chintz which I highly recommend for those interested in the process, but suffice it to say,  it was a long and detailed process. Printed cottons are, for me, one of the hardest fabrics to find in our modern stores and there are a lot of "don'ts" that float around the costuming community. For instance, I have heard that it was impossible to have green in prints, but I have found that is not true. Green can be seen in chintz and prints throughout the 18th century but was a blue-based (not vivid yellow-based green) which muted and darkened the colour.  Yellows could be painted on after blue dye baths to achieve different greens and oranges but this would have likely increased the cost of the fabric due to the extra labour and care taken. If you are looking to train you "eye for fabric" check out the Marquise Blog and Demode. They have some great examples of printed and patterned fabrics which will help you know what to look for on your next trip to the fabric store.

There is so much more information out there but since doing a bit of reading I am feeling so much more confident about my ability to spot period appropriate fabric (looking at you bedspread from IKEA).

Resources

18th Century Note Book - Eighteenth-century dying recipes 

The Met - The Art of Making Chintz
Marquise Blog - Fabric Section has lots of wonderful information
Buyer's Guide to Cotton Floral Prints - By the American Duchess
The Creation of Colour in Eighteen-Century Europe