I'll begin this post with a magical process in the garden which mayhaps epitomises this time. We were gifted a couple o bags o shit, not by life as is oft the case, but by a neighbour, to fertilise the soil. Gathered from a not too distant horse race course, this had born within it, seeds. Special ones for a nervous system in need of tonifying....
Oats! I've been wanting to make green oats tincture for a whiles but didn't think they'd grow in the subtropics. In the bottom picture, along with dyers fingernails, you'll see the succulent milk exuding from the ready to harvest oat as I squeezed it to test for readyness. Exciting! Tinctured those babies up. Learning that you can simply harvest the tops and the rest will grow, and hence seed, again. Sustainablity.... :)
So, as with the coming of the oats, life has brought nourishment, and abundance. I feel more loved and supported than ever in my life. Had a few wee cries about it, and the beautiful paths I find myself now walking accompanied....
In a series of furthur eco dyeing adventures, the learning curve continues! I now have an Instagram account which focuses mostly on such plant ally craftings, 'opalplantways' if you'd like to see what I'm up to. That's probably where I'll be hanging out mostly....
I was doing some experiments with mordanting the leaves, rather than the fabric, I know mindbending (hinted at generously by 'Elemental Leaf')! Which resulted in a surplus of leaves that had soaked for some days in a strong brew of iron potion. When I came to do a batch of bundles with previously mordanted items, I popped a few of these leaves onto a linen collared shirt I had dyed some time before, but which turned out very pale. This is what happened, check out the rusty looking coloured patches....
I actually really dug the look of them! It was like abstraction, rather than aiming for 'perfect' leaf prints. Now, that's not to say, those aren't beautiful, they are, but there was something here I enjoyed. So, I followed that line of vibe and had a go on some damask (dahlinks) tablecloth scraps from the op shop....
It was done with Eucalyptus and Bracken leaves that had been soaking so long they were on the verge of becoming compost, and I simply harvested some Geranium leaves fresh from the bush at our front door! I was in an utter state of play, which was lovely! I also reckon I made a few discoveries about the blend I'd like to achieve of clear leaf prints and oozing dyepot magix!
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