Saturday, March 15, 2014

out of the dye pot

Two of these bundles contain lemon scented eucalyptus leaves, and one has morning glory.  I wrapped bark around two of them, and eucalyptus leaves around the other, and they were all steamed in a eucalyptus bath, then left in the cool for about a week to dry.
 eucalyptus leaves with bark - nice markings from where I folded it
 
Morning glory, wrapped with bark....I was hoping for more of a green.  I added alum to the pot for this one, so this might account for the more tan outcome, or the alum really brought out the tans from the bark....not sure though.
 
Other eucalyptus bundle....darker in real life, richer.  I added some crushed eucalyptus dried flower heads to this bundle.
 
I was pleased with the outcome, it's all experimentation.....unfortunately the colours aren't true, they're more tan and ochre in real life.  I need to sit and play with my camera settings I think. 
 

I mentioned in my last post about the tiny scrap dyed with tibouchina flowers.  here are the flowers before I bundled them....a beautiful rich purple.  These gave me some good colour.  The piece the scrap was from I'd added onion skins, but left them out this time.  I bundled these into a jar with water and vinegar, pushed more flowers around them, and steamed the jars for about an hour, then left for a few days before unwrapping them.


 
Darker spots are from loose petals I'd added......on silk
 
on linen
 
***
And an update on little bird........who I'm pleased to say is not an orphan.  I was lucky enough to be in the garden with my camera and catch this parent coming to feed him.  The other parent was in the tree above, keeping watch maybe. So relieved.
 
 
 
This is a little blurred, but I managed to catch him up on his tippy toes, furiously pumping his wings. He looks like he has some of his tail feathers missing, perhaps from one of the birds that was attacking him earlier.  I'm hoping they'll grow back.
 
Practising, exercising
 
 
Juno enjoying the late afternoon sunshine
 
Enjoy your weekend, I'm off to make a quilt.

6 comments:

  1. Love the results of your dyeing - very subtle. I have done a little fabric dyeing over the years - it is one of the crafts I want to spend much more time fiddling with.

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  2. How did you achieve such great color on the linen? Did you pre-treat? It's lovely -- I've never gotten good results with linen. So far anyway! ;) Very glad to know the bird has parents watching over him. Sweet girl, Juno, I love your chickens, Nanette. Looking for some blue cloth around here now. xo

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  3. Hi Kerrie, it's fun to dye isn't it, and wait to see the results. Look forward to seeing what ces of your 'fiddling'.

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  4. I didn't do anything to the linen cloth Peggy, just wet it first before bundling, then added a splash of vinegar in the jar. The linen was a shirt from the op shop (thrift store)so maybe being well washed made a difference. I have my blue cloth, no vinegar yet.

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  5. I have some lemon eucalyptus to try. I found a small plant at a nursery last year. It didn't make it through the winter but I have some dried leaves I thought I'd experiment with. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  6. Shame your plant died,Deb, but good luck with the leaves you saved. I haven't used dry leaves before, only fresh. I must try and see the difference. Thanks for stopping by.

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