Sunday, November 11, 2012

eco friendly fun .....


We had glorious spring weather on Sunday ... a perfect day for some eco-dyeing with friends.  Dot, Ro, Nat and I spent the day at the Belgrave studio of Jude Craig...doing an eco-dyeing workshop. Fun, fun, fun and less than an hour from home .... and lots of fabric to take home.  Jude has been a passionate eco-dyer for many years .   She has done workshops with India Flint  years ago and was inspired and influenced by her teachings and books. 
 Two of our gorgeous dye pots....the concoctions:  tumeric at the back and red cabbage at the front ... our bundles had simmered and we were waiting for them to cool so we could take a peek.  Normally we would leave our bundles for at least a week (if possible,, even longer Jude advises...but I'm always a tad impatient).  But, as this was a workshop we wanted to share our experiments with each other.  The results were still wonderful.



The grey colours came from a eucalyptus dye bath in an iron pot (see the perle thread below from that same pot!!!  Beautiful strong colour).  The purple/blue colours were from the red cabbage and purple carrots and those yellowy/mustards from the tumeric...thanks to Nat for bring along the tumeric root and sharing with us all.
I love to tie my bundles with white DMC or perle thread... after the dye pot you get some wonderful threads to use for stitching your cloths .  This time I also put in a few buttons that I wanted the colour *tempered* a little.  I was really happy with the outcome.  Even got a few variegated threads!

The velvet on the left shows colouring from the purple carrots (Ro and Dot loved the purple carrots).  The second from the right shows some strong yellow/mustard from the tumeric.  I am looking forward to dyeing more with the tumeric.  I have been trying to get a muted mustard colour...thus far trying euphorbia and wattle...nothing to exciting yet.  Thinking a mix of a few might work.  Need to *play* more in the dyepot.


I think all photos are clickable for a closer look...some great effects from the bundling/tieing.  I love the serendipity of eco-dyeing...you just never know what you are going to end up with when you untie your bundles.

My little indigo seeds are struggling....BUGS  have been eating them as quick as they appear.  They have a special cover, but still the bugs gets in.  Luckily they appear quite sturdy and keep coming back... a couple are still in tact.  I have my fingers crossed that I will have a few healthy plants come summer to try some indigo dyeing and to seed so I can have a crop again next year.  I might transplant them next weekend and see how they go in a bigger pot.

My sweet friend Dot recently gifted me these two beautiful fabric pieces.  A lovely burnt orange cushion...kimono fabrics, wools, cottons....fabric weaving, buttons.  It is gorgeous.  I have only one problem with it.....my dear old dog Oakey thinks it's his "special" cushion and loves to snooze with his head on it (he's so old he sleeps most of the day these days).  Dot is an animal lover.  I think he knows that and that is why he prefers this cushion to any other on my couches.
The beautiful greens are a lovely tote bag Dot made me...to tote my lunch and other goodies to work each day.  The Kaffe Fassett fabric is one of my favourites.  Lucky me to get two such beautiful, colourful gifts.

BETTER  KEEP  YOURSELF
CLEAN  AND  BRIGHT;
YOU ARE THE WINDOW
THROUGH WHICH YOU
MUST SEE THE
WORLD
 
-GEORGE  BERNARD  SHAW-
 
Jacky xox

19 comments:

Sharon Tomlinson said...

What a fabulous post, I enjoyed every word and picture. I'm thinking soon I will get to try the eco-dyeing soon. Retired at last!

Els said...

Ha Jacky, you could make a meal out of your dye-pot too ;-)
Interesting results on fabric ánd thread to stitch !
(love the orange cushion)

Rachel said...

Good luck with the indigo plants! You've got lots of lovely fabric to play with now...

lynne h said...

jacky, i'm with dot and ro on the purple carrots - wow... and the mustard/turmeric is also a big wow. so much wonderful color and useful fabric you have now!

xoxo

Ro Bruhn said...

It was a lovely day Jacky, gorgeous weather and great company. I love the results of all of our work. I'm so busy creating more fabrics, not sure what I'll do with it all but I can't stop. It's not my normal colour range and intensity but I'm working on it. See you Saturday xo

Penny Berens said...

Love the greys, Jacky.

Nat Palaskas said...

Thanks Jacky for a great day and for driving us there (the longer way, the gps fault!). All your pieces are beautiful looking at them again here. I can't wait to get more turmeric and make that mustard colour bath, if interested come over for a dip!
Hugs
Nat

martha brown said...

Those colours are BEAUTIFUL!

Pat said...

This looks like so much fun! I'm itching to try this some time but may need to wait until spring or summer. For now I'm just experimenting with transferring rusty marks to paper and cloth. Good luck with those indigo seeds!

Philippa said...

Hi Jacky Fabulous dying. It just looks great! Very keen to try the red cabbage - must grab some at the market this weekend and leave for a long stewing. I am going to do a 5 day class with India Flint in January - booked it months ago and am just starting to get excited about it. Nothing like a real summer holiday to look forward to! Hope all well. Happy creating! P

Dot said...

A wonderful post full of color Jacky. Sunday was so much fun and I was amazed at the different color variations of our dyed fabrics. Love the alchemy of eco dyeing and the magic when the bundles were unwrapped!
And thank you for mentioning the cushion and tote I gave you. It touches my heart to know that Oakey likes the cushion and rests on it.
Bron is able to make it on Saturday now as her plans have changed. Is that ok?
Dot x

Jenny said...

Sounds like a wonderful day Jacky... love the results... especially the yummy mustard color... and gorgeous creations from Dot... a beautiful place for Oakey to lay his head...

Jenny ♥

Joe Madl said...

what inspiring results with your eco dyeing bundles! i had never thought to throw purple carrots into the mix. indeed...i have never *seen* purple carrots before and will be on a mission to track some down now!

thank you for sharing all these wonderful cloths!

Kim Henkel Creations said...

WOW Jacky these all look beautiful! What a fun day. I too would be impatient to wait to unwrap them. It must be like unwrapping a very special gift!

Caterina Giglio said...

oh your fabrics are just gorgeous... and i hope your little plants survive! x

Mary Stanley said...

What a great day of dyeing! Love all those color variations...must try some of those soon.
Dot's beautiful creations are so special...thanks for sharing them with us.
Hope the Indigo plants survive-keep us posted..I may try growing some too!

Linda Vincent said...

I'm so envious of your lovely 'eco-dyeing' day Jacky! And your results are fabulous......I especially like those yellows and greys together. Could become my new favourite colour-scheme!

Emma said...

Beautiful cloths, colors & a dyeing day with friends. You are inspiring. Lovely gifts from Dot, drool washes out, anyway ;)

Unknown said...

A great way to promote eco-friendlyness! Thank you so much!
have some other practical ideas in this field:
eco-friendly house
By the way, I followed you up with GFC, it'd be great if you follow me back.