06: Easy Dyeing Time Attack for any Household: Beginner Edition

From there, Jill acted relentlessly.

She supplemented her hunger with apples growing in the garden, fed and treated Karappa, and then used the preparation money given to her when she left the royal castle to procure needles, threads, fabric, scissors, and other small materials and tools.

Riding the fully recovered Karappa, she left the forest and headed towards the town of Shelland.

It was already becoming dusk, and Jill hurried through the town gate and asked the gatekeeper for the location of the tool shop. The gatekeeper had a look on his face that said, “Who is this?” but Jill, in a hurry, pressed him for the location. Fortunately, the tool shop was very close to the gate.

“Oh, little miss, it’s almost night and you come shopping… well, it’s fine, but…”

“Oh, sorry.”

The shop owner was a well-built man, with a physique that suggested he was very strong.

However, seeing Jill, the owner felt confused and somewhat afraid.

Despite finding it strange, Jill proceeded with the business. Thanks to her unfamiliar face and delicate demeanor, she was mistaken for a ghost or something, but Jill didn’t realize this at the time.

“So… uh, you needed fabric and sewing tools, right?”

“Yes.”

“We have needles and scissors. We also have linen and cotton fabric. Do you need scraps? We’ve got some left over.”

“Then, please give me the scraps too. By the way, do you have silk?”

“No, no, don’t be ridiculous. We don’t have such high-end items. Oh, but if you ask Matthew, he might get it for you. He’s a merchant I know. I can talk to him for you if you want…”

“Can it be done? Then I’ll leave an advance payment. If you don’t have fabric, threads will do. Oh, and if you have colored threads, I’ll buy those too.”

“What!? Are you sure?”

When Jill casually placed gold coins in front of the owner, he was very surprised.

“If you can get it, no problem. If not, I’ll give up.”

“No, it’s fine. Leave it to me.”

“Oh, and is there a shop that sells medicines? I need alum. Also, if you could tell me where they sell tea leaves.”

“We don’t handle medicines here. There’s an apothecary in the white building across the street. The shop is about to close, so you should hurry. We also have tea leaves here…”

“Then I’ll take those too. Just one packet will do.”

Saying this, Jill turned on her heel to leave the shop.

“Hey, wait! You can’t leave yet! What about the silk fabric? I need to know where you live to deliver it when it arrives!”

“Oh, the mansion outside the town in the forest. The forest is dangerous, so I’ll go get it myself.”

“What!? You live in that mansion!?”

Jill did not answer the shopkeeper’s exclamation-like question, hastily left, and completed the rest of her shopping.

When the sun completely set, the curfew for the town’s main gate would come.

Revealing her identity to the gatekeeper to open the gate was a simple matter, but she did not want to wield her authority for something like this.

However, when the gatekeeper asked, “Where are you going at this hour?” and she answered that she was returning to the mansion in the forest, the gatekeeper was as shocked as the tool shop owner. Jill did not particularly care, loaded her luggage onto Karappa, and headed straight back to the forest.

The monsters in the forest around the mansion were surprisingly docile.

It seemed they had completely acknowledged Jill as their master.

Even that did not concern Jill.

Jill’s top priority was unwavering.

“It looks like I can start the work right away…!”

Various items were laid out on the kitchen table of the mansion.

First, the newly bought piece of cloth, about the size of a handkerchief.

The alum bought from the pharmacist.

And the herbs and flowers picked from the garden, along with some tea.

“Let’s start with something simple.”

What Jill intended to do was something that could be done in any household—dyeing with plants.

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Dyeing with plants, as the name suggests, involves using plants to dye fabric.

Although dyeing might be seen as a difficult craft, the steps for dyeing with plants are simple.

First, boil the plants to extract the pigments and create a dye bath.

Immerse the clean fabric in the dye bath to transfer the pigment to the fabric.

Perform a process called “mordanting” to fix the transferred pigment onto the fabric.

There are other minor preparations and rinsing, but these are the basics. Fabrics like silk or wool are easier to dye. In dyeing, the proteins in the fabric bind with the pigments to fix the color.

Other plant-based fibers that do not contain protein, such as hemp or cotton, have difficulty holding onto color. To dye these, it is necessary to soak them in a protein-rich liquid, like milk or soy milk, before dyeing.

On the other hand, the plants used for dyes can be anything. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there are as many dyes and color patterns as there are plants.

For example, using the root of madder will dye the fabric a deep red, true to its name. There is a deep relationship between the names of colors and the plants used for dyes. However, even materials readily available to anyone, like onion skins or used tea leaves, can be used as dyes.

Jill had not known how to dye with plants before. Her hobby was embroidery, and she often handled pre-dyed threads and fabrics, but she had never dyed anything herself. She learned about plant dyeing from Conrad’s heritage book… the Acacia book.

“‘Dyeing at Home’… Yes, yes, this will be helpful.”

Jill transformed the acacia book into an introductory guide to dyeing.

This book was different in nature from the first book Jill picked up, ‘Make Your Own Clothes: From Dresses to Gowns’. ‘Dyeing at Home’ was the perfect beginner’s guide for those new to handcrafts and dyeing. It detailed exactly what tools to use and how to achieve the finished product, with step-by-step instructions accompanied by photos.

At first, she did not find it particularly fascinating. Dyeing itself was naturally common in the Magic Kingdom and other countries. Even if not as vivid as the samples in the book, the clothes Jill was wearing also used common dyeing techniques.

However, now, the two elements Jill possessed matched perfectly with the technique of plant dyeing.

“I found madder, safflower, and indigo in the forest, and there was also indigo. Well, let’s start simple with onion skins and then gradually move up…”

The forest surrounding the mansion had an astonishing variety of wildflowers.

She could obtain as many dye plants as she wanted.

“【Water Creation】, 【Heating】”

Jill cast spells in succession.

In an instant, the small pot filled with hot water.

Jill kept the water at around 95 degrees, just below boiling.

She threw the onion skins into the small pot.

“Using magic certainly speeds up the dyeing process… 【Liquid Manipulation】”

Normally, she would need to simmer the onion skins gently for 20 to 30 minutes to create the dye.

But Jill had magic.

Jill had a special talent that she didn’t often tell others about. By combining magic to manipulate water and liquids with magic to add heat, she could make stews and braised dishes that usually required overnight simmering in an instant. She applied this technique to dyeing.

The pigments from the onion skins were instantly extracted, and the water turned a deep reddish-brown.

“Now, I’ll remove the onion skins and add the fabric scrap…”

She removed the skins from the well-extracted dye.

Even here, she meticulously used magic to manipulate the water, scooping out every bit of broken skin with a ladle. Then she placed a small piece of cotton fabric into the pot of dye.

It was a 20-centimeter square, ready to be turned into a handkerchief with just a hem. This fabric had already been pre-treated with milk for protein. Jill then used her magic of 【Liquid Manipulation】 to dye the fabric instantly.

The fabric that had been white earlier now turned a reddish-brown, slightly darker than the color of the onion skins.

Jill was satisfied, feeling that this gave it a certain rustic charm.

However, what Jill aimed for was something a bit more vibrant.

“Alright… Next is mordanting.”

Mordanting is a technique that not only helps prevent the dye from fading but also enhances the color.

When plant pigments react with metals, the pigments bind more strongly to the fibers. Incidentally, adding nails when boiling black beans or making eggplant pickles results in vibrant colors due to the same principle as mordanting.

The most commonly used mordant in plant dyeing is alum.

Jill had bought a bag from the town’s pharmacist. It looked like white powder with large grains, resembling coarse salt. In the Magic Kingdom of Dailan, it was used as a mordant as well as a hemostatic agent. In the vassal state of Orkus, known for its numerous mines, alum was abundantly mined and exported to various countries. Although not cheap, it was reasonably common and affordable for ordinary citizens.

Jill dissolved the alum she had acquired into hot water to create a mordant solution. Then, she lightly rinsed the newly dyed fabric with magic and soaked it in the mordant solution, observing the fabric’s color change.

“I see… So this is how it works.”

The fabric, which had been a dark reddish-brown similar to the onion skins used for the dye, gradually turned into a bright yellow. This was the effect of the alum.

“Let’s proceed to the finishing… 【Liquid Manipulation】【Drying】”

The next steps were rinsing and drying.

In actual plant dyeing, meticulous rinsing is required between each step, but Jill simplified this process with magic.

She also relied on magic for the drying process.

Using the spell 【Drying】, she controlled the wind to remove moisture. While this magic was typically used to dry soaked clothes and laundry, it could also be applied to dry dyed fabrics and complete the process. Thus, a brightly colored yellow fabric was finished.

“It’s done… Amazing…!”

Even though this was just a test of plant dyeing, it was the first time Jill had created a dyed fabric with her own hands.

She chuckled, contemplating whether to turn it into a handkerchief or something else.

“Maybe… it would have been enjoyable to follow the steps without using magic and appreciate the process.”

Excluding the time spent on preparation, the actual working time was less than three minutes.

Normally, just boiling the dye to create the dye bath would take thirty minutes.

Dyeing the fabric and performing the mordanting process would take an hour.

Considering the time needed to dry and finish it, it would typically require an entire day.

In other words, Jill had made the process hundreds of times more efficient.

Jill thought she might have rushed a bit. She felt that taking more time would have given her a greater sense of accomplishment.

“No, this is just the first step. I can’t afford to relax.”

However, Jill contradicted her own words.

“I’ll enjoy the normal plant dyeing process slowly later… For now, let’s keep stepping up.”

Jill wanted to acquire as much knowledge and technique as quickly as possible.

Materials were abundant.

She had so many things she wanted to make, they couldn’t all fit in her head.

To achieve her goals, she couldn’t afford to stand still now.

“Let’s try various dyes… Maybe even do some shibori dyeing… I also want to sew the dress from this book using stencils… And try the knitting and leather crafting techniques from the book… I need to make things, and eventually!”

Jill transformed the acacia book into another book.

It was a somewhat thick book about the size of an A5. The title read: “Become a Handmade Craftsperson! ~The Secret Tips for Easily Running Your Dream Shop, Even as an Individual~”.

“I’m aiming to run a craft shop!”

Jill’s eyes burned with determination to achieve her dream.

She kept repeating Conrad’s words in her head.

May your life here be filled with happiness.