The Fascinating Red Cabbage:
So, it may be my Ukrainian roots, but I think that the humble red cabbage is just remarkable. My love of this cruciferous vegetable developed a few years ago when I discovered, while perusing Pinterest, that you could use its stock to dye Easter eggs the most gorgeous shade of sea-blue.
I was a bit skeptical, having been pulled-in by the wonders of the internet before (who could forget the “Mountain Dew glow-stick” debacle of 2010), but I was also intrigued and hopeful. I decided to give it a go. I filled my house with the heady aroma of boiled cabbage and held my breath as the eggs steeped for a few hours.
Success!
Out of the magenta-hued dye, beautiful blue eggs emerged! Such transformation.
I rubbed the teal, navy and cyan splotched eggs with a light dusting of edible 24-carat gold and candle wax. They were satisfying to behold: the colour was just what the Internet promised it would be.
So, this holiday, after months of textile arts exploration, I began to consider my friend, the red cabbage yet again. Could it be used as a fabric dye? A quick jaunt thought the Internet said, “why yes, it can be”. The internet also related about one thousand different methods on how to extract, manipulate, and adhere the dye to all kinds of fibres.
The Internet also, sadly, cautioned that red cabbage dye is a fickle beast, prone to fading through washing and sunlight.
Again intrigued (and not deterred by the dye’s transient nature), I bought a couple of red cabbages, enlisted the help of my ever-curious husband and daughter, and set to work. Below is a documentary documentation I made of our exploits:
