The plant dye workshop

Try plant-dyeing your own fabric belt or headband. In the Middle Ages, plant dyes were an important source of dyeing textiles, as synthetic dyes had not yet been invented. The colors were extracted from different parts of plants, such as leaves, roots, fruits, flowers and bark. The choice of plant depended on the desired color and what was available – either in the surrounding nature or among the imported dyes at markets in the big cities. There are not many well-preserved costumes from the Middle Ages, but by examining both preserved costumes, scraps of clothing, paintings and descriptions of fashion in contemporary documents, you can form an image of how people dressed back then.