I am starting something new here to further my love of eco printing and dyeing. Once a week I will make a set of bundles or a natural dye bath, just to experiment and test my wings. I am not good at logging and scientifically charting my experiments, so by sharing them here as they happen I hope to have a record of sorts to refer back to. I also hope to link back to the bundle post once I finish a project that uses the dyed cloth.
This week I collected peach and plum leaves from my garden, and picked up pecan leaflets left on the ground after our mild encounter with Irene. I threw some vitex, japanese maple, and walnut in the mix as well. I used regular (or in our case not so regular) tap water, and I put 2 small pieces of copper piping in the brew. The bundles simmered for about 1 hour, was left to cool in the bath overnight, and then laid on paper to drain. They were unveiled the following morning. The silk and wool prints turned out spectacular, the cellulose fabrics did not do so well.
pecan on linen
pecan on silk organza
pecan and walnut on wool
t-shirt overprinted with vitex
peach on silk
How do you fix the colour? I have been playing with this but the colours are very unstable.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great experiment!
ReplyDeleteYour work is just beautiful. I must say that I enjoy each post and am a big fan.
I love your image of the bundles still all wrapped up. They're so full of potential at that stage and things of beauty in their own right, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteI recall at Shakerag the constant question as someone had a particularly stunning result....."Is that Wool?!" and the anwer was always "YES"..........I miss hanging over the pots with friends.....This is a great idea you have come up with for recording your experiments.....and thank you for sharing! Love, Marianne
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea, Lotta, with very fine results so far... (I might even try and do it myself, too...)
ReplyDeletethank you for the encouragement.
ReplyDeleteoddeariing - I don't do anything to set the color on wool or silk. Cellulose fabric is treated with soymilk (to add protein) and alum/ashwater (for mordant) prior to the dyeing process.
marianne - yes wool is magic.
ger - it would be so much fun to share our cross-the-ocean experiment. different plants, different water... I hope you will.
this is a good way to record your play--i wonder why it's so hard for us to keep good records? (i ask myself this often)
ReplyDeleteNot´s bad idea...experimenting is something natural in ones development.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and great idea
These are spectacular!
ReplyDelete