In the midst of the moving madness I’ve managed to continue to do a bit of textile work. Expanding upon my rust experiments I’ve done some rust dyeing on silk scarves, which I realize may compromise them in the long run but I couldn’t resist the rust!
This is a detail of one end of a long narrow scarf. I am so intrigued by the metallic shades, rainbows and oxidation that occurs on the fabrics. The effect here partially washed away after I rinsed the fabric.
I’m embarking upon the exploration of natural dying, slowly trying to learn a bit more about it because I’ve never really done much of it but am now very interested. It seems a natural progression bringing together my interests in gardening, sustainability and textiles. I’ve started with onion skin collected (from my local CSA) over the last couple years (because I don’t need to MOVE them!), both yellow and red.
I got a variety of hues and shades on both fabric and yarn varying from a green gold to a warm pale brown. I experimented with silk, cotton, wool and linen and used alum as a mordant.
I’ve also been experimenting with the process of natural dying via bundling bits of dirt, bark, lichen, leaves and other debris in fabric Ala India Flint. These experiments haven’t been tremendously successful but it’s new and fascinating to me so I’m enjoying the process. I think it’s time I get India’s Book “Eco Color” though so I don’t waste too much time and fabric in the learning process. I did have some faint success with fern leaves and with mud so far though.
Finally I’ve been trying my hand with a little textile and mixed media assemblage. This is a work in progress that I’m playing around with.
…PS…Knitting season has returned (I usually put down the needles in the summer) so I’ve picked up the needles again and have a couple projects going (they are gifts so I can’t show them yet).
neat experiments!