here and there {naturally dyed yarn}
Happenings:
It's Wednesday. Life has less structure being a homeschooling family. I'm trying to see if we can work some structure into our days, but it's not naturally me; so perhaps it won't happen. Maybe time will tell.
There is much full-ness at the moment. Making and planning and organising and preparing for two markets this coming weekend - one at the Tweed River Art Gallery on Saturday, and the other at the World Environment Day festival in Knox Park. Both in my home town of Murwillumbah.
I must admit that these rambly days work well for the way I work - I can dabble with bits here and there. Putting some silken threads into dye pots and tending to them over the days, bit by bit. Not requiring more than that from me.
I'm so pleased with the colours that came out of the dye jars yesterday. There's more there still soaking up the colour. I'm hoping that people will enjoy these as much as me and use them for crochet or embroidery or simply as lovely string for tying presents.......
These are the silk yarns before dyeing, and then after. The purple is from a red cabbage dye batch, and the yellowish / brown is from tea.
The most best thing about these yarns is that they are not tangled. I have taken time and care and space from receiving the skein and wrapping them into smaller lengths to keep them from tangling. This is good for me - and also in my mind an indication that I am untangled / not tangled (somehow?? Well, it works for me anyway).
The weather has been rainy and sunny and in between cloudy and cold.
Where have you been lately friends? How are things treating you?
E xx
{how to} naturally dyeing fabric with turmeric
The smell of turmeric on fabric takes me straight back to when my mother made fairy costumes for my sister and me. She dyed white singlets and endless swathes of tulle in a big pot of turmeric. I can't remember watching her making them, but I can remember that we both smelled like that wonderful spice for the whole party. What sweet flower fairies we were!
Lately the colours and designs coming from the turmeric dye pots is quite beautiful indeed. I thought I'd share my process with you, so you too can dye some pure golden sunshine.
Some notes before you start: remember that natural dyeing and some natural plant based dyes can be toxic. If you intend to boil and dye in your kitchen, please only do so in a well ventilated space and use a pot you won't be using for food purposes. Do some research before you head out foraging for plant material. Wear gloves to protect your hands from any chemicals or chemical reactions.
Also, the process of natural dyeing is such that results vary with materials and quantities used. You cannot expect to achieve perfection or repeat performances; you will instead be surprised and amazed each time you unfold your fabric - and that is better than perfection any day!
You will need:
Some plain undyed natural fibres. You can use linen, hemp, cotton, wool or silk. Silk is often the easiest to achieve brighter colours than plant based fibres; but you'll find through experiments that different fibres give different results. Use pieces of fabric, as well as lengths of yarn.
Turmeric powder, from your health food shop or the spice section of your supermarket. Find the brightest freshest powder you can find.
White vinegar or alum (which can be found in a gardening shop - it's the chemical used to colour change hydrangea flowers), to use as a mordent.
A big saucepan, glass jars with lids, rubber bands, pegs, string.
:: 4L of water, 2 heaped tablespoon of alum, and 3 heaped tablespoons of turmeric.
:: 4L of water, 2 heaped tablespoon of alum, and 3 heaped tablespoons of turmeric.
To start with:
Soak your material in cold water, so that it is totally wet. This allows the dye to permeate all the way through.
Half fill your pot with tap water. Add alum and turmeric powder. The amount of powder you use will depend on how much you are dyeing. I don't measure.
Bring the water to the boil, and add your wrung-out materials (you can strain off any un-disolved powder before adding your fabric, but I don't bother). At this stage you can either let it simmer on the stove top until the desired colour has been achieved, or you can fill your glass jars with the fabric and the dye water and place it outside in the sun to continue dyeing. This is called solar dyeing.
I love solar dyeing as it gives you the chance of watching the colour develop over days to a week. You aren't using gas or electricity to dye your items, just harnessing the heat of the sun (you could even build a solar oven if you wanted to boil your water that way!). And those colour-filled jars sure look pretty sitting in your garden. (Just make sure the lid is tightly secured and your jars are away from children and pets).
Once you are happy with your colour, rinse out the fabric. Hang to dry in the shade; your piece will fade in full sun. The alum helps to keep it colourfast, but most natural dyes will fade over time. Turmeric is sometimes a fugitive dye, which means it doesn't last as long as some other natural dyes; but I have found that some fabrics take the colour and keep it better than others, so testing your own fabrics is the best thing.
To achieve the different patterns on my fabrics I use the following techniques:
Shibori folding:
This is an age-old Japanese technique of folding or stitching fabric to achieve amazing patterns and shapes. This is an art-form in itself. At this stage, I have neither the time nor inclination to be stitching work just to unpick it (though I crazily admire those who do!), maybe one day I will...
For this pattern, I simply fold and continue to fold the fabric into squares onto itself. Then secure it tightly with pegs or clips along the edges, or wrap it with twine (which will also dye).
Dip dyed:
An easy and beautifully effective way of allowing the natural process of the coloured water moving up the fabric. This always reminds me of the marks left on sand by waves - you know that slightly transparent line left behind. Ombre continues to be popular - so why not try your hand at making mountain peaks.
Start with one end of your fabric in the dye, and the rest hanging out. Leave for at least half and hour. Then slowly move the fabric down into the water a little bit more. Do this as many times as you want, each time leaving it for about half an hour in between. The amount of time you wait before you lower the fabric in, will determine how dramatic the colour change is. Being a natural dye, this process will not be as predictable as with chemical dye.
Scrunch effect:
I simply tightly scrunch and then tie (with string that will become coloured as well) or peg the fabric. Place it into the glass bottle and cover with dye. Put a stone on top to weigh it down if need be. Leave this for at least a few days, without agitating or moving it about. The dye will settle into different sections of the scrunch to create the marks; if you move it too many times it won't be as dramatic pattern.
of death and sunshine
Last night I dreamt I died. I dreamt of my dying, my death. It was a dramatic and amazing type of death - I was blown off a verandah (at our old old house) by the biggest gust of wind. This gust of wind didn't blow away my loved ones who were standing beside me. It only blew me. And I fell far onto the ground.
I could hear them all around me. The anxious sounds of a family experiencing something dramatic and unexpected and shocking and difficult. Those noises. But I lay there. Quietly. At peace and calm. Within myself.
There were no white lights or angels or anything like that. Just the peace and quiet of my ever-decreasing, finally no-more breath. That's all. It was as simple and easy as that.
My loved one, my man, my soulmate, was beside me. He felt the calm and ease as well. He wasn't in the sound/noise/storm that everyone else was in. Somewhere I heard my dad as well.
And an ambulance. That came too. But couldn't help me.
I wasn't scared. I wasn't scared. I let that part of me go. And slipped into whatever was next. The dream didn't tell me what was next. I guess that's up to me.......
And then today. When I woke up. Was a new day. A new life. Today I made sunshine.
Today also my boy (that eight year old wonder) had emotions he didn't know how to deal with; and we tried hard to help him, but didn't quite know either. We took him swimming to the creek which helped for a bit. I tried to work out what he was telling me; but I'm still not sure. I did work out what my dream was telling me. And even though I couldn't breath all day, I was at ease for letting that death happen and moving on.
And when you can make sunshine, what does it matter what else happens. Death or tantrums! ha. I can make sunshine!
{this glorious sunshine silk was made in my kitchen, using powdered tumeric. Such a satisfying natural dye to move back into after months of having done none at all. And the sunshine outside shone vibrantly onto the sunshine I made. All things glimmered. And all was ok}.
stitch still life
i stitched these little pieces up this morning.
cleared away the mess on our table and set myself up with some thread, a needle and these scraps of hemp / organic cotton (which do look like linen, don't they).
vague notions on Shibori stitches - though of course, nothing at all like the intricate reality of Shibori. perhaps one day - maybe never. maybe will always be my inerpretation. i think that's ok. actually, maybe that's better.
these two little pieces had a quick photo shoot and then into the jars of dye outside. i had intended on having a cabbage purple, but it had turned brown (i put a rock in it to weight some other fabric down, and it must have had it's own colouring in it! ah well - red cabbage is on the shopping list). they both went in the rusty / eucalytpus leaf solution. a deep dark intense grey. we'll have to wait a few days to see if the stitches worked their magic, as i've imagined or not.....
i'm hoping next week may be a bit less busy (though i doubt it!). perhaps some more stitching and dye experiments.
mind you - i just love the look of rough stitches on raw folded.pleated.tucked.manipulated fabric
what will you be doing this weekend?
{ps - i forgot it thursday, which means it's creative spaces play day}.
just this
I pulled these from the dye pots this afternoon. These are the ones I put in only a few days ago - yet already such great colour.
Photo is dark and grainy, as it's dark and rainy here! (hehe - that was a funny little play on words, hey...).
The blue is from red cabbage with salt. What an excellent colour. The last red cabbage jar I dyed was purple. Did you know red cabbage is a ph indicator. I think the salt may have changed the colour a bit. My dad said it looks like denim, then he told me why denim is called denim. Do you know why? Well - it comes from a man in France who was the first to make the fabric, he named it after the city de Nimes, hence it became de-nim. You can read about it on wikipedia if you don't believe my dad, but I know that my dad really does know a thing or two!
And the little rock up top was from the blue dye pot as well - it's gone a dark and mysterious hue.
The grey is from the rusty nail and eucalyptus brew. Some pieces are linen, some are hemp - creates different depths of colour on different fabrics.
The orange/brown is from coffee - what a good colour. I really do like it a lot! Every time there's coffee left over in our morning coffee pot, Sam saves it in a jar for me. I do think it would be much deeper and stronger if the fabric was in there for longer. And it's had no mordanting - so I don't know how colour/sun fast these pieces will be.
Anyway. The kids are having a sleep over, and I'm still doing final prep for tomorrow's market. It's dark and cold and rainy, and I want to sit in front of my fire and crochet....
What are you up to this weekend? Do have fun fun won't you! xxx
threads - kinda sorta really lovin' these
just made some little pouches using bits of fabric scraps. oh - don't you just love fabric scraps!!!
and messy stitches. how can you go wrong with messy stitches, raw edges, and that delicious peachy-pink thread on the natural hemp.
but boy-oh-boy. super super lovin' it on the grey-ish pieces.
i dyed these pieces in a solar-dyeing bottle of rust and eucalyptus. um - love love!
i'm off back to my solar pots to add these natural linen and hemp pieces into some coffee and some red cabbage. can't wait to see how they look after a few days / week in the dye.
these little pouches are for my crochet stones - little nests, safe carrying places. these will be available for sale at the Sew & Tell market this Saturday. i'm so excited to launch my rock collection (small as it is at the moment, due to those cut fingers and big bandaids!!).
come and check them out, won't you?
reminder to self
have fun and do these things. this week. and breathe.
+ make some bundles of fabric and leaves and flowers and put them in a dye pot. do it. and then wait a week and see what comes out.
+ crochet some little socklet foot things for myself. to keep my feetsies warm on the cold mornings.
+ finish the t-shirt crochet rug for our kitchen floor. maybe start one for Mishi in her play corner
+ plant some new flowers. just because
+ write in my journal.
+ do a drawing, maybe some watercolour painting
+ take some photos
+ go for a walk. maybe in the morning. maybe in the afternoon. maybe with the kids. maybe by myself.
+ sit by the fire with my man and just chat.
+ crochet some more beach or creek rocks. because i like doing that!
that sounds like a good and lovely full week, doesn't it. what will you be doing this week?
just three things
there is an endless list of things to do. not an actual list. but the list of wants.....
like all the books you ever want to read - well that's never going to happen is it.
and, i have to realise, i'm never going to see all the instagram images that come through my feed.
or read all the blog posts or see all the beautiful pinned images on pinterest.
and there's many many more wants. like where to visit. what countries. what far vast adventures to go on. or adventures around the corner. everyday there's things i missed out on.
so. instead of having this endless list and feeling like i'm always behind. or that i'm never going get there.do that.read this.eat this.... well - i decided that i'm going to set just three things. (of course, i'll probably expand it to mean just three things for that particular medium, or three more things that relate to that, but i think that's ok too).
here's my three creatives things i want to do/learn this year ::
:: really and actually make a quilt. maybe it will even have hand quilting on it. maybe it won't. my boy really wants me to make one for me. i'm collecting blues and indigos, but i think i need to collect more actively so that i can start making. it's coming on winter here - i really should get it made before the cold cold. care to swap me some deep blues fabric for ....... well, what. what would you swap for?
:: i want to do some proper plant dyeing. i've been loving the solar dyeing i'm doing in glass jars sitting in the sunshine. but i want to get focused on doing more and more and more. lots of little bits is good. maybe one big bit too. with some friends too - wouldn't that be lovely. an indigo dye pot. oh yes. that's what i want.
:: learn to knit. i have the most delicious knitting book i got last year. i do really want to make myself a coat or a jumper or just something from it. knitting is so different to crochet - more versatile. i think. anyway. i want (re)learn to knit. maybe i'll even make something with my own plant dyed yarn. for next winter - i know my limitations!
what are your three things? they could be for just right now, you can change your mind......
dye pot :: camellia japonic #1
This piece came out of the dye two weeks ago. It's an old woolen blanket I picked up from the op shop.
Solar dyed (left in a glass jar, with water and dye materials for about a week or so).
I used the flowers from the wonderful camellia tree (top image) growing in our yard - it doesn't seem to be stopping it's flowering anytime soon; so hopefully there'll be lots of of it appearing in the dye colours.
I've discovered that if I put some rusty pieces (nails and screws and such) in the pot as well, then the flowers dye this amazing grey sort of colour. There are some patches of rustish browns. The colours change throughout the length of the piece, as it was rolled up to be able to fit into the small bottle I have. Inside the roll were the yellow pollen pieces - the petals torn off create these lovely shapes (as seen above).
I'm not sure what I'll do with this piece, but I do really love it.
*if you follow on Instagram then you'll have seen this before, but I wanted to document the process for myself. My sister bought me some journals to use as a proper paper (not computer) recording process, but I'm not actually sure I can bring myself to cut up these pieces of cloth to make samples and such, plus one little sample piece doesn't clearly show the full depth of colour.
dye pot :: passionfruit, camellia + beetroot
They are::
- the shibori folded piece - pink camellia flowers / rusty pieces makes a fantastic grey colour.
- the pinkish crochet scarf (one I crocheted a year or so ago, in white/cream organic wool) + pink lacy flower pieces - pink from beetroot, which was first boiled for a short while (half hour or so) on the stove top. Then left in a jar outside for a few days. I've been pulling it out and letting it drip dry, then putting it back in, hoping to get more colour into it, and also to perhaps create some sort of patterns through it.
- all the purple pieces are from passionfruit (the purple skin ones). We tore the skins apart and put the in, with hot water and some alum.
- the piece you see with some flower bits all over it is a woolen blanket (which had self stripe pink already). The flowers are from the camellia tree - if there's no rust then they turn a more purple-brown-yellow colour. It was all rolled up inside the blanket piece, which was then in the passionfruit dye pot.
They're all drip drying on the line right now. I'll have to wait and see what fades, what doesn't. I'm really pleased with the shibori tied piece - there'll be more of that, as I have an excellent book from the library which actually diagrams how to do the ties and stitches.
Anyway, this is my visual dyeing notebook of sorts. I think because of the way I do things (random, unplanned, without reading instructions or recipes...) then if I want to get regular results from the dye pot, I'll have to take note of what works / what doesn't. I do hope you enjoy following along with my dyeing recording.
from the solar dye pot
I took these pieces out of the dye jars. I couldn't wait any longer; I figure a week is a good amount of time before things start to go smelly.
The pinks are some silk, that seems to be tearing - perhaps age. One piece was wrapped with pomegranate seeds within it, the other had moss fallen from our tree (old mans beard?) and red /pink camellia flowers. Both were in the same jar with pomegranate skin, moss and a creek rock - mainly to weigh the fabrics down. The rock went a beautiful deep almost black colour.
The purple is from avocado skin. Also wrapped within the folds of the fabric was coffee and tea discards. I also put fire ash on top. This is hemp / organic cotton fabric that I had previously (as in a year+ ago!) stitched with silk thread. There are lovely little speckles from the coffee grains within the purple shades. And little bits of brownish as well. I did put some old rusty falling apart metal sheeting - not sure if that actually made much difference or not.
I know that I put too many different things in one pot, to get clear conclusions of what gives what colour, etc. But as it's the first dyeing I've done for a while I was excited to just be putting things in. Now that I have some lovely, pleasing results (and not just mucky brown), I'm going to start being more methodical in my process. Here goes with the journalling....
*note: these pieces hung in the Winter sun for a full day, and faded quite dramatically. The were not pre- or post-mordanted at all. So, I'll be doing some more experimenting with what to use to keep the colour strong and not fade so easily. I've sent Sam into town searching for some alum.
tuesdays moments
+ i'm listening to Tiny Ruins - beautiful voice, music and sounds (especially for the head space i'm in right now)
+ i'm enjoying another cup of gen mai tea
+ i'm at my dads house, in the cold afternoon air
+ i'm looking forward to going down the hill to my house and lighting the fire and curling in for the night
+ i've been doing a little rejigging on my blog - do you read this in some reader form, head on over and check out the new set-up + pretty header image
+ i'm enjoying the quiet, slow, soft moments of the past few days with my family away and just the cat and me at home
+ the weather is continuing to be gloriously beautiful with clear clear blue skies and cold nights
+ the moon is slowly moving back to full again
+ i've been doing some small starts of some solar dyeing - some pieces of fabric folded into jars with assortments of things
i'm exploring experimenting adventuring and enjoying in a quiet way. i'm feeling a creativity slowly start back again, and learning to fit that into the quiet slow (busy) of the rest of my life. to work within what i have. i'm being inspired and encouraged that i'm not the only one.
*photos are an assortment from the past few days - from the proper big camera and the phone camera (including instagram images)
frocks, wraps and fabric lengths, works on paper and sterling silver pieces
If you are in the area, this is sure to be a beautiful exhibition to see.
India Flint's amazing eco-dyed and hand worked pieces - as she calls them frocks, wraps and lengths of fabric. You can view some of her work over on her website; but let me tell you - seeing it in real is just so very interesting and inspiring. To stop and look at the depth in the fabric, the colours and movement and stitches. Her work looks like little pieces of the landscape.
In conjunction with India's fabrics, there will be some jewellery pieces by Marianne Hall, and Roz Hawker's finely stitched intricately worked fabric pieces.
I met Roz while in New Zealand earlier this year; she had spent the previous year slowly and quietly stitching, almost as a meditation and a journey. The results of that year (in a different country with little-to no family) are simply awe-inspiring. Quite hard to describe the feeling of quiet that comes over you when you look at the cloth with her teeny tiny fairy-like stitches. {Of course, I didn't actually manage to take any photos of her work while in NZ; so I hope to show you some after this exhibition}.
Saturday September 18th, 5 - 8pm. 22 Blue Hills Drive, Bunya,Qld.
There is a 5-day workshop with India to follow; which I really wish I could attend. {But lots of other things happening, and you know - kids to look after and stuff like that. So, I hope those who are going have a wonderfully marvellous time}.
easing back in
11 days without kids,
without having to cook, clean or look after myself
oh - it's hard to come home to the noise and mess and life of a home with two busy little ones
since flying back home on Tuesday morning, i've barely been at home at all
no time to unpack a suitcase, heaving with dirty washing, dyed fabrics and memories of time away
no time to email new made friends, or catch up with old friends
barely time to even look at my photos
so today, Saturday, i've had to say no to a few things so that i can settle into the week afresh, tidy the house, and clear my mind ready to make all those 11-days of dreaming come to life. {tidy my desk and work room as well, ready for lots of new work to be designed and produced}.
here's some images from my time away in NZ.
i'll be back later this weekend with an account of my time spent on that beautiful organic farm, amongst apple and pear trees, sleeping in that sweet little caravan, finding wind blown treasures to wrap up in the luscious wool and silk fabric and simmer and boil in the pot of leaves.
India in New Zealand
I have just booked a workshop with an amazing textile artist.
India Flint uses found, collected, 'windblown' leaves, flowers, natural colours to dye and manipulate fabric. Mainly using wool and silk, she produces pieces that just sing.
Well, they make my heart sing when I look at them. And my head jump with ideas, and thoughts, and new works.
To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about India Flint - not much more than gleamed from her website, blog and briefly looking through her book (which Sylve owns).
But those images are enough for me.
The workshop is in New Zealand, a place I have never visited, though have longed to see. I'll be spending almost a week on an organic farm, wandering the fields searching for leaves and pieces to make into natural dyes.
Almost a week, spending time with myself and others with similar interests. No kids. Just my own journalling and thoughts and ideas and notebooks. And of course the wild organic farm.
And, by coincidence, talking with my dad on the phone last night. He has just been spending time looking at India Flint's website, so he got all excited for me about the workshop {well, as excited as my dad gets}.
Now, I'm off to book flights and organise visiting my dear dear (old school) friend who has just moved back to NZ, from the UK, and who I haven't seen for about 6+ years.