Rust Dyeing Tissue Silk

After collecting so many rusty things I felt I needed to justify their presence in the middle of my walkway, by having a go at rust dyeing tissue silk.                                                       The silk was soaked in undiluted vinegar before twisting and wrapping around an old rusty tent pole. I then tied it with rusty wire...criss-crossing along the length of the pole.

The rust reacted almost immediately.  I had intended to leave it for 24 hours or more, but when I saw how fast it was taking I decided to unwrap after only 18 hours.  I neutralised the rust by soaking for half an hour in a bucket of salted water. 

  

The colour is soft and I think it suits the silk well.  I was very pleased with the wavy water mark effect and the random slashes from the wire.   Sadly the photos don't show the detail very well.  With all the rain, good natural light has been scarce.

The silk was left to cure for a couple weeks and I now have the option of  using another rust pattern or adding some leaves or onion skins as a feature.

I was amazed at how simple this process was. It has opened up a flood gate of ideas yet to be tried.

 

Solar Dyed Merino Tops

"What happened to the wool in the jars? " I've been asked.  Well after weeks of wandering from one interesting project to  another ....and not really finishing any of them, I can now unveil my little experiment with solar dyeing. 



All are soft colours using Native Daphne, Acacia and beetroot skins. The darker green is Native Daphne. It turned to a lemon yellow when felted as you will see when I post at Kirton Kreations later.


The jars were left outside for about  2 weeks.  A small patch of mould developed on one of the batches, so it was put in the freezer, as recommended by India Flint and left there for another 2 weeks.  
 
I will be heading out over the holidays to collect more gum leaves and anything thing else that may provide an interesting colour.

 Happy dyeing

Australian Natives and Natural Dyeing

I'm playing with dyes again using foliage from natives in my garden.  I'm not sure what they are called and I have no idea what recipes to use....will it stop me experimenting No!!   I do remember something about one teaspoon of alum ...so it went into the pot with the golden leaves from this tree.  I wonder what colour I will get.

The next experiment will be this pretty native (below)... with tiny silver leaves and sweet perfumed white flowers that cascade over the banks of creeks.

I found this one as a seeding in the middle of the bush track along the brigalow flats on a  grazing lease I once owned in the Jandowae/Chinchilla area Qld many years ago.
 
I would love to hear from anyone who is familiar with natural dyeing using either of these natives...or what the natives are called.
Happy dyeing

Dyeing with Native Daphne

It is still wet and no real sign of it staying fine enough to head out  to do any shed building, painting, or collecting materials for natural dyeing.  I would need to set up a tent etc.  and with no facilities yet it wouldn't be very comfortable.  So while I wait I will make do with what I can find around the garden here. 

My first experiment was with a bunch of Native Daphne leaves boiled in an old aluminium base electric fry pan. I had offered this pan online to Freecyclers ...twice....but had no takers.  So glad now, as it has become my official indoor dyeing pot .

It was a quick experiment using some hand washed uncarded lambs wool staples stuffed in a small onion bag just to see if these leaves gave any colour.  I filled the pan to the brim with leaves and covered them with tap water.  I started on a high setting, but found that I could keep a good simmer on the number 2 setting.  After about 40 minutes I popped in the bag of wool and simmered for another half hour.  As an after thought I threw in a slurp of vinegar.  If I was using a pit fire I would certainly let it cook a lot longer.

Experienced natural dyers may throw up their hands in horror at the process, but I did get some colour and turned off the pan shortly after it appeared. In the dull night light I though I had a grey colour and planned to use it in a felt picture.  I  left it soaking it in juice over night and in the light of day I was delighted when I discovered a lovely soft green.  The photos don't show the true colour....it is best described as a lovely pastel Grannie Smith apple green.

I will be trying another native I have growing in my garden to day....I don't know what is is called, but hopefully one of my readers will be able to tell me 

     when I post the pictures.