Well, fellow MELD member Louise Wells has said that if I’m on a good thing I should stick to it.
So here goes with my record of the latest natural dyeing efforts.
Op shop woollen blanket dyed first in rhubarb leaves (that’s why it’s yellow) and then rinsed in iron water and steamed with sage leaves and Euc. cinerea leaves. That’s a sage leaf!
Oxford linen previously dyed in avocado skins, now pre-soaked in iron water, wrapped with plant material from a previous boil up, and boiled 2 hours in a Euc. wandoo dye bath. Nothing terribly noticeable here but I love the look and it’s not so easy to get prints on linen as it is to get them on silk or wool!
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As above: Oxford linen bundled in the same way. The purple line is a kangaroo paw root.
Cotton fabric previously wrapped with Euc. wandoo leaves and boiled in a solution of Euc. wandoo leaves, now wrapped with recycled “mix” of kangaroo paw, purple carrot, casuarina and Euc. cinerea leaves with some fresh Euc. cinerea leaves and some rehydrated casuarina leaves added. Boiled in Euc. wandoo bark bath for two hours. The casuarina and the purple carrot, both “recycled”, are nonetheless the most prominent additions to the fabric. and, notwithstanding that the carrot was added after the Euc leaf, it appears to recede!
Piece of paj silk previously dyed in an avocado skin dye bath, now wrapped with recycled mix of kangaroo paw leaves, roots and tuber, and steamed for two hours over a Euc. wandoo bath. The kangaroo paw roots are the most obvious additions to the fabric.
Paj silk (6mm) wrapped with kangaroo paw leaves and tuber and chopped up stems and some leaves of Euc. cinerea then steamed over a Euc. wandoo bath for two hours. The Euc. cinerea stems have gone missing.
Paj silk (6mm) bundled with rehydrated casuarina leaves, some dubious (as in “I’ve never had a result from them”) eucalyptus leaves (species unknown), and some sage and red onion leaves. Red onion wins!
Piece of woollen blanket previously sun dyed in avocado pip with high pH (hence the pink background), now wrapped with recycled plant waste (kangaroo paw leaves, roots and tuber, Euc. cinerea, casuarina leaves) and boiled in Euc. wandoo bath for two hours. Kangaroo paw roots win here.
The same blanket piece as above, but the inner part of the roll where the dye bath penetrated less.Casuarina leaves are more obvious here.
Might take break now while I think over the long weekend what I can do with the fabrics. Our long weekend has been renamed Western Australian Day. This is not as obvious a cause for celebration as its original name of Foundation Day. It plays, misleadingly, to the confused understanding of political correctness that afflicts our politicians, however, so they renamed it.
I am thinking of pairing the dyed fabrics with cable ties and grommets. Or is that toooooo…much of a transgression of traditional textile techniques ? (Gotta get that alliteration in!)
These are beautiful Margaret – works of art in themselves. When are you going into business? Jo