Eco-Dyed In The Wool

Last week my Spectrum Study Group (aka a small and very select group of friends) got together for our usual monthly meeting. There were only four of us available this time but we definitely managed to be productive! The theme was eco dyeing, a contact printing method using plant parts made popular through the books and workshops of India Flint from Australia. This time Leslie offered to share her wool jersey cut into scarf widths for us to play with. Several people brought foliage and natural dyestuff and we also foraged in my garden for leaves and flower petals to supplement the supplies. Unlike India's usual technique the wool fabric was mordanted with either alum or copper acetate (made by soaking copper pipe bits in vinegar for an extended time). The bundles we made were rolled up and either steamed in a colander or popped into a logwood dyepot and simmered. We all promised not to unroll the results for as long as possible.

 

Then yesterday everyone was madly emailing each other exclaiming rapturously about the results! Not wanting to miss out but I got busy and somehow managed to wait until today to unwrap my bundle:

 

 

 

The piece of wool jersey I got was mordanted in copper acetate and started out a pale green from that process. I added leaves from cranesbill geranium, weld, heuchera "Purple Palace", ninebark "Diablo", purple smoke bush and thread leaf coreopsis, plus sprinkles of dried marigold petals and crumbled purple onion skins.  I spritzed on a little vinegar (perhaps not necessary but what the heck) and the whole thing was rolled up around a stick and simmered in the logwood pot and then just left on the counter for four days.

 

The lines are from the string resisting the logwood dye and of course they only extend partway along the scarf though there's some logwood dye along the edges. The centre that was wrapped first on the stick is more plain but still very pretty. The leaves that usually give me purples and greens are here more tan and brown from the copper. The intense orange bits are from the purple onion skin and the gold flecks are from the marigold petals. I love how intense the colours are on wool! It was nearly dry in the last photo and they're still strong.

 

This dye technique is surprisingly easy to do and very forgiving. Even plants that don't work in an immersion vat will amaze you with colour. For an excellent detailed tutorial try this one from Wendy Feldberg, who also dyes paper with this method. Don't miss the comments section as there is even more info there. One of these days I'm going to get up the courage to include my rusty Kettle Valley Railway spike in a bundle. Soon.

Meanwhile I have been working on the bug nets for the van. I fixed the one for the sliding doorway and have the ones for the front windows cut out and pinned together. When I went to test them in place it started raining on me! Of course it stopped as soon as I gave up. Now the sun is out again. Sigh. Plus I'm still spinning white wool in my every spare moment. Three skeins completed now. Halfway.