Those Scribbly Gum leaves find their way to the Dye pot....

If you mayhaps read my previous post, you will have seen wordology referring to the call of gathering Scribbly Gum leaves, for L plate experiments with 'eco dyeing' cotton fabrics? Well, those leaves soaked for nigh on two weeks, and were joined by a variety of others, as the local electricity company were rather kindly trimming around their precious wires! I was terribly chaotic, no species labeling, just memory of tree n leaf shapes and locations. Then this morning I felt the time had come, aka I was busting at the seams, to try and see how things unfolded. So I lay out the variety of leaves with a sigh...

This time I had added a 'premordant' to the preparation of the fabric. Bits n bobs of rusty joy brewed away in a jar of white vinegar, which I then diluted with ordinary ol tap water, and dipped said cotton in. Allowing it to dry, n cure a whiles. I had rather pale tea like, still lovely, nothing wrong with a cup o tea, type results last time around. I was hoping the mordanting, not sure if that word exists, could deepen my colours, and mayhaps result in a leaf imprint here or there.

So I laid my mix o leaves out like an abstract painting, n bundled, to maketh ready for the cauldron, with my Spirit kin Moraig dancing a wee jig o glee beside me. So excitingk, and a wee bit ad hoc. The soundtrack was 'The Isle of Roan Inish' mixed with several disco tunes. I feel this helped proceedings.

I wasn't looking at my pot with a lid whilst folding n rolling, hence I found they were too long! Bum! However, fear not my friends, the local tip shop had regaled me with a larger one, lidless but sized perfectly! I reread my references, and decided to cover the wee wool bound rolls o magik with water n boil em, rather than steaming. See how that goes...

I added some Lichen, carefully collected and Australia posted to me by my Mum, and some Cronewort from the garden, for her sheer presence n blessings, to the water. Turned up the unwooded hearthfire and off we go journeyers! What will happen in those potently intentioned waters that smell like walking in a forest???

Oh the joy!! They worked!! Leaf prints n all. My beloved who had been wondering quietly at the buckets of soaking leaves, oohed and aaahhed appreciatively. The shots are taken when freshly unbundled, so the colours lightened some as the fabrics dried but big learning curve from my first attempt. Stoked! The skirt I dyed,which doubles as a dress has barely left my body :)....

References:

'Eco Colour: botanical dyes for beautiful textiles' by India Flint, Murdoch Books, 2008.

'Gum Leaf Alchemy: Eco printing on Cotton' by Louise Upshall, Gumnut Magic.

Scribbly gums, scar tissue and beauty therein...

A few days ago, my beloved and I set out on foot, basket and secateurs in hand, to gather Eucalyptus leaves for my fledgling experiments with 'eco dyeing'. These words coming from the title of a book on plant dyeing I recently borrowed from the local library, by the inspiring India Flint. Specificly on colouring fabric using plants and minimal toxic mordants (fixatives). Eucalyptus species, especially those with leaves o a blueish tint, she discovered work pretty good without 'mordants' on protein fibres, like wool and silk. Of course, I chose to work with cotton! That'd be right. Ha! The tale of preparing cellulose fibre is mayhaps for another time, but began with me swimming in the ocean with 3 metres of unbleached cotton and numerous doilies from the op shop 3 weeks earlier...

Back to ambling with a basket in hand towards local bushlands. We were heading along a path into a deeper part of the Scribbly Gum forest, (so called because of the 'writing' created by small grubs under and upon the bark). I began to notice that those blueish tint leaves, were all way up high in the canopy, beyond reach. However, I recalled a patch nearby, who's form was a more scrambling nature. So we reversed, and made our wending way towards the area. We entered what is a relatively close to suburban realms place. Here the trees have had their cores burnt by bush fire several times, yet regrown around these wounds, and continued to live. In one of the holes created in a trunk by this scarring, we were greeted by a special sight....

A cluster of orchids! Beings who had found their niche, literally amid scar tissue. In a world where for us people, life requires navigating challenges, these Cryptostylis erecta, otherwise less formally known as 'Bonnet Orchids' or 'Tartan Toungue Orchids' had discovered their groove. Sprouting where ants had carried a kind of fine saw dusty soil and moisture collected, upon the dead tissue. It felt like an affirmation, a gift. Keep going you two, you never know what you'll find, or where the trail will lead!

Merrily, I collected my fresh gum leaves, some with nuts, and dried windfall from the ground. I took them home and proceeded to boil n steam up my first pieces of bundled cotton fabric, wrapped upon copper pipe. The results were fairly pale greens and browns, darker where copper touched, but I love them, because they are a start! It's a learning curve. I have some idea's of how to deepen the colours, mayhaps even get some clear leaf prints furthur along. I have rusty iron bits n bobs brewing in white vinegar in a glass jar as I type. An ' iron mordant' said to help with these processes. I am definitely on my L plates, but what delightful diversions along the journey! Seems we stumbled upon both surprise orchids, and for me, another way of engaging with the magic of plants!