Tess Young Designs & Makes

Welcome to Tess Young Designs & Makes

Here at the online home of Tess Young Designs and Makes you can join me on the blog where I talk about knitting, cooking, gardening, textile heritage, natural plant dyeing and my knitting design process.

You can also browse my hand knitting patterns and find all the links to purchase online via your preferred pattern site, including Payhip, LoveCrafts and Ravelry.

Whether you’re here for the blog, where I encourage you to comment and share your experiences too – I love hearing from readers – or to browse my pattern designs, ‘Welcome’ and I hope you find what you’re looking for.

More sunny solar dyes from the kitchen and garden

August 27, 2023

As I sit here in temperatures hitting 40 degrees celsius, I thought I’d take a moment inside, in the shade to sit quietly and tell you about a some more glorious colours this summer of high temperatures and ‘burny’ sun have enabled me to create. Following the wonderful vibrant yellow I was able to create using yellow coreopsis and the power of the sun which I shared last time, I’ve been trying this approach with … More More sunny solar dyes from the kitchen and garden

Natural Plant Dyeing: Adding a fabulous new orange to the palette with Bidens

May 31, 2023

Towards the end of last year, as leaves tuned colour, the weather turned colder and frost threatened some tender dye plants, I began to plan some more dyeing experiments; a combination of trying to replicate previous colours and discover new ones. This potential for new colours comes as we explore further what plants will thrive in our clay soil, and in hot dry summers that can transition to cold waterlogged winters overnight, or in the … More Natural Plant Dyeing: Adding a fabulous new orange to the palette with Bidens