20 January 2016

Natural dyeing

Greetings!
As I mentioned in this post, I've been doing some dyeing with natural substances inspired by India Flint's luscious book Second Skin.
At first they all turned out a bit muddy, but slowly I started getting results as I read more and understood fabric types, mordants and processes.
Below is the first successful dye that I manipulated and played with as I went along. This involved pieces of silk, eucalyptus leaves, rusty screws, ash from the fireplace and boiling.
I like how this depicts the move from the natural leafy world to the mechanised one.

I liked this so much I have hung it in my kitchen on a twig. Mind you, the twig is the star in my eyes!

I love how it blows with the wind.

Here I am in my silky shirt once more, playing camouflage against the tree trunk.
And a close up I promised for Melanie of Bag and a Beret. Love the organic ironing?!
Another piece of silk I picked up at our Bus Depot Markets from a Japanese stall. It was reduced due to being stained...from $22 to $8! Little did he realise how many marks it would soon have!
I cooked eucalyptus leaves and masked it with wood so I ended up with little window pane squares. I love how the dye picked up the cloud weave in the fabric.

This is now hanging in my laundry window to be admired!

I've also played with some old silk scarves. These were a plain orangey tan. Now they look much more interesting!

This was in the same dye bath and picked up some tan dye I suspect, along with some onion leaves and copper pennies. Love the green from the copper!

So you can see I'm having a blast!
I have some red onion and red cabbage, and salty fabric with rusty objects currently cooking in the cauldron as I write!
But no matter what I do, I can't hope to achieve the effortless results nature paints on our driveways after a storm.

Eucalyptus trees really are magic!

Til next time, enjoy your creating!

Love,

Jazzy Jack

 

13 comments:

  1. Interesting experimenting and interesting results! All those prints look unusual, beautiful and a bit mysterious even.

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  2. OMG!!! this is the most beautiful fabric i´v seen in a long time!!!!!!!!
    my fingers start itching to make them into garments! will you do? ...comes summer i´m surely will collect greenery for some dye experiments - i have a lot of white fabric lying around thats never got used.... but now!!!
    thanx for inspiring my dear!!! xxxxxx

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  3. sooo lovely creations.
    Thank you for the visit.
    God Bless

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  4. So fun to see your creations. I love the one attached the branch! So ethereal. Bringing the outside inside.

    bisous
    Suzanne

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  5. They're gorgeous. You're so creative...did you use it as a lesson for your boys too?

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  6. It's such a satisfying (and harmless) addiction!

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  7. Yes yes yes this is just you....Silk and Natural Dyes!!! This has been from way back...the discovery of your experimenting and the sheer delight of the result. We love the hangings and different effects. We often say the leaf stain on the path would make a lovely material dye...and here it is! D&M xxxx

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  8. You are such a lovely nature girl, creating art that mimics nature. So organic in inspiration. I love the hanging silks on a branch. You've created your own special tree.

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  9. Wow! These are absolutely stunning. I've always wanted to do that - learn how to dye cloth with natural things. But haven't done it yet. You are such an inspiration.

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  10. Beautiful!!! Really love what you create, love the organic feel. The blouse is beautiful, and the hangings on a twig stole my heart!

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  11. Beautiful!!! Really love what you create, love the organic feel. The blouse is beautiful, and the hangings on a twig stole my heart!

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  12. Now I'm going to have to look for this Book! Being a Fabric Artist I have wanted to begin hand dying fabrics and fibers in earnest, I always Enjoy not knowing how it will all turn out and allowing the dyes to have their way with the fabrics. My forays in hand-dyed seam binding went quite well since a Friend shared some techniques she knew I'd like... but I kind of want to find the best possible way to Age fabric to show a faux Patina of Time. Tea and Coffee Staining is Fun too but I tend to get carried away and start Tea Staining everything in sight to get that Divine Sepia ambiance everywhere! *winks* Dawn... The Bohemian

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