weekly bundles no. 5

My resolve to create something in the dye pot every week is motivating me to try new things. This week I picked some of the last blooms from our butterfly bush (buddleja davidii) and simmered them for a few hours. Linen (pre-soaked in soy milk), tafeta silk, silk organza, and a small piece of wool was put in the dye pot and brought to a low simmer, alternating a few times (30 minutes each) with the alum mordant pot, and then left to cool in the dye pot overnight. The blooms generated warm yellow hues on the linen and a darker yellowish green on the protein fibers. Lovely.

A pair of bundles simmered for two to three hours in the left-over butterfly bush dye. Dogwood, plum, ginkgo, tulip poplar, maple, and peach leaves were layered in two bundles - one with all linen,  another with silk and wool. I am having difficulty finding white or natural wool these days (if anyone has a good source please let me know), so I used a commercially dyed pale gray wool jersey. The overall outcome was not spectacular. The ginkgo did nothing except for some interesting resists, but the dogwood and the maples left some pretty prints on the gray wool.

And naturally I had to do some more eco printed paper. Ginkgo and peach leaves were layered between the sheets and clamped tight between wood boards. The paper prints have become somewhat of an obsession. I just love the embossed marks and the pale impressions the leaves leave behind.