Dyeing FYI

My quest for Bayeux 'Aqua' is leading me a merry round, but I am finding some good dyeing resources that I thought I'd share: (Please suggest additions!)


Thora Sharptooth on Viking dyes If you have a Viking persona and haven't yet discovered Thora's site, get your head out of the sand, good gentle. Here she lists plants known to be used in textiles available to Vikings between 800 and 1066 CE. She also reports that current thought is that regional color preferences prevailed in Viking lands, with reds predominating in the Danelaw, purples in Ireland, and blues and greens in Scandinavia proper. Also, that while flax doesn't usually take plant dyes well, woad apparently works wonders, and much blue linen may have in use.

An Educator's bag of classroom dyeing experiments makes me wish that I had had a teacher this interesting. This is NOT your usual dumbed-down chemistry in the classroom lesson, but rather contains some really useful looking step-by-step instructions, with explanations, on using a variety of dyestuffs, both medieval and Native American.

The Dye Woorkes by Drea Leed includes period dye recipes translated from many languages. She even gives the untranslated version of the recipes.


Dyes in History and Archeology lists presentations given at meetings of this chemistry oriented group. A real treasure trove for those who want to chase elusive data across the web. Lots of tantalizing hints about period paints as well.