Marta's Madder-Dyed Hinterland

This isn’t the first Hinterland Dress Pattern I’ve made (see my first one here), and it probably won’t be the last either. There’s something about this pattern that really appeals to me.

Pattern: Sew Liberated Hinterland Dress
Fabric: Elizabeth Suzann Poplin
Size made: 22
Modifications: Omitted the placket to opt for a seam in the front, added a seam in the back as well, doubled the fullness for the skirt

I’ve been in a deep dive with natural dyes this summer, so when we got this lovely Elizabeth Suzann deadstock poplin in, I knew I definitely wanted to see how it would do in my dye pot.

For this project (four yards of material) I used one package of madder root. And because cellulose fibers like cotton or linen don’t necessarily take dye readily, I used Alum to pre-mordant my fabric. For my mordant bath, I placed the fabric in a bucket with enough water to fully submerge it and 2/3 cups alum, and let it saturate for 24 hours. Next it was into the dye vat.

Again I used enough water to fully submerge my yardage and added the whole package of madder root. I let this ever-so-slowly come up to a simmer before adding my fabric. I did leave my fabric in the pot over night, letting it slowly come to room temp after simmering for maybe two hours. I confess I did leave my fabric in the vat for about a day and half before rinsing it in cold water. I chose to leave the madder matter (ha!) loose in my pot for a more varied dye effect - this is what produced all of the fun highly pigmented spots on my dress!

Sewing this dress was such a breeze. Working with the poplin was a dream - it sews so easily. And my resulting dress looks a little like a confectionary, don’t you think?