Sunday 15 September 2013

Dyeing and Weaving

Printed from fallen leaves found in a garden centre

Includes eucalyptus and vine leaves

Have completed another centimetre of weaving
 Its a drear day here, raining non stop and windy. Hence these images have been taken in very subdued light. I am very pleased to get such clear images of the leaves. Printed on silk noil.
Cloth dyed with flowers from 60th birthday bouquet

A permanent momento









Mo Crow showed an image of a real leaf she had waxed on her blog http://itscrowtime.wordpress.com/ the other day so I have tried that as well, seems to have worked. Next year I am doing a piece called 'A Walk in the Woods'. If the leaves last they would look great.












And yes I have done a little weaving and an image for my next piece.
I have a way to go still.






Instead of throwing my birthday bouquet away when the flowers died I dyed a piece of cloth with them. This piece is about a metre by half a metre, dyed using wool which takes up the colours so beautifully. The close up is a more accurate view of the colour, it also has patches of green and blue in it. I am thrilled with this and it is such a lovely thing to be able to keep.
The only problem is that wool makes me itch so if I decide to stitch it this I could probably only complete a little at a time.

11 comments:

  1. What a good idea for birthday flowers! It seems the weaving bug is going around :)

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    1. Weaving has been my main occupation but I seem to have had a bit of a block recently, well since I caught the dyeing and stitching bug I guess.

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  2. Isn't silk noil wonderful! Oh, your new weaving is very intriguing, can't wait to see more.

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    1. I have to confess to having a loving of both silk and cashmere, expensive tastes. Silk noil is my favourite and I am hoping to make a skirt from a length I have bought. To eco dye or not that is the question, do I risk it.

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  3. gorgeous results Debbie! The silk eco-dyeing might be a bit of a risk, but think of the uniqueness of the resulting skirt! I look at India Flint's clothing in her book, and lust and desire rise within me!

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  4. Oh me too, I think I might take the risk, but knowing me it might be another year before I get round to it. On the other hand it is the season of mellow fruitfulness. Leaves seem to dye beautifully when they are themselves dying.

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  5. I love the idea of using your bouquet for dyeing making a "recuerdo" recording the memory as a keepsake named so well in Spanish

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    1. I love that there is a word for this that really relates to what it is.

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  6. Ooh, I love this. I've been collecting leaves to print and paint with them, and I'd love to know how you've dyed the silk with them. I confess to not knowing much (or anything) about eco-dyeing!

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  7. Hi, thanks for popping over to my blog. I am still quite new to eco dyeing so its all a bit trial and error. India Flint is the doyenne of eco dyeing. I also follow quite a few eco dyers blogs if you check my blog list. The above are where I get most of my info from and I was lucky enough to take part in a workshop with India.
    Basically you place your plant materials on the cloth, roll up really tight and tie tightly with string or similar. Place in a pot of hot water which you can add plant material to if you want. Cook for a couple of hours turn off the heat and leave. Take the bundle out and leave for as long as you can then open and see what you've got.

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