Confidence in natural dyes develops as a result of process. So often we see students questioning whether the change in colour is a mistake or just the material acting normally. This is because the process of learning hasn’t been delivered as a cohesive whole and so actions are done on autopilot without an understanding of their role in the overall technique. Once a process is understood, then any decision making stops being ‘risky’ and starts being intentional.
It also means you have a structure to operate within when trialling different variables. It is comforting to know why you are doing something and why the preparation of fibre is necessary or why a mordant might react differently on wool than cotton, or why a temperature affects the pigment yield. It is comforting to know how variation will look so you can gauge what the material is telling you. Confidence begins here.
Natural dyeing also teaches you that control isn’t about rigidity. A process isn’t a recipe, it is a sequence of relationships that can’t always be controlled. Water quality varies, the freshness of the plants vary, time varies and so on. If you understand the process then none of these variations feel threatening, they just offer the chance to observe and learn. Confidence develops when you know how to deal with unknowns.
Repetition is an important part of this. Doing the same process multiple times allows you to see into it, where initially it feels complicated. Things become comfortable, not as overwhelming. Repeating a process allows your hands to learn as much as your brain. Your actions become more confident, your timing more confident, your decision making more confident. This is a knowledge that can’t be fast-tracked.
Confidence in natural dyes comes from trusting the process and the material, trusting yourself to observe and correct, trusting that it will take time to develop. This kind of confidence carries over into other areas of your making and your life. It affects how you approach problems and how you manage the unknown, how you see the value in learning.