Comfrey for natural dyeing

Comfrey is a plant that I have tried to eradicate from one of my garden areas but it came back this year . . . it must have been "meant to be" because a few days ago I found myself looking for a plant that would give me green dye and, behold, comfrey seemed to fit the bill.

I used Jenny Dean's Botanical Colours as my reference and proceeded to cut up the leaves before pouring boiling water over them. After leaving the leaves overnight and then simmering the dye pot the next morning I removed the leaves (and later put them on my garden as green mulch) and put shibori raw silk into the pot.  The dye became a dark olive green very quickly but I decided to let it sit for eight hours before removing it and rinsing as I knew it would lighten up considerably.

I am delighted with the result after washing, which is a beautiful yellow-green ... just what I was hoping for!

Eco Print on Paper

This weekend I experimented a bit more with eco printed papers and this is something I will be exploring further!  I started off with an 11" x 14" piece of watercolour paper and folded it into a shape that would work for a small journal.  I used primarily maple, oak and smoke bush leaves and clamped them together before simmering them in a pot of water with onion skins and huckleberry tea added to it.

The dried papers were then waxed and some additional waxed leaves and blossoms were added to the central section.  A bit of eco printed silk was tied through some holes that were punched in the paper and a couple of small wooden buttons add more texture.

I think that this would be a beautiful statement piece in home or office.  A battery-operated tea light could be placed in the central section which would accentuate the images on the semi-translucent base to look beautiful at night.  As it stands, it's footprint is approximately 12" x 5". 

This piece will make its way to my Etsy shop in the next while.

Long and Skinny Eco Print Art Quilt

 This is a long and skinny (7" x 36") art quilt that I have created from a piece of eco printed wool fabric. It has a peony leaf as well as maple, oak, black elder, and more.


The backing fabric is also 100% wool (a hand dyed tweed that I purchased that goes just perfectly!) and it extends to form an informal border on the quilt. The black cotton batting that I chose peeks out from behind the eco print wool to give a little zing.

The background is free motion machine quilted in wavy lines and the leaves are all hand stitched.

The organic look of this piece will make a statement in any setting ... the edges are unfinished and just a little bit off-square.  I added a hanging sleeve to one of the narrow ends so that it can be hung invisibly from a 6" dowel ... very easy! (it does hang straight from the top edge, not on an angle as the photo appears!) It could also be draped across a table or piano ... or even wrapped around your neck as a statement scarf.

This piece is now available in my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/498726654/eco-print-wool-art-quilt-wall-hanging?ref=shop_home_active_1

Eco print scarves

I have been so busy exploring new ways to eco print that I have been neglecting  blogging about the results ... here are some of the scarves that I have made in the past few months.

 This silk scarf has lovely shades of amethyst and pale greens and soft charcoal.

 This one has delicate shades of tan with a bit of peach along some of the edge and a broad shibori-like design dyed into one end.  The peach colour has come from adding madder to the dye pot.

 On the left and below ... The fall leaves have given bold prints in rich gold and green on this silk-wool blend scarf.  The leaves have a bit of an outline or shadow from iron.

These scarves are available in my Etsy shop (click on the icon on the right of your screen or go to kathykinsella.etsy.com).

Eco Prints and More at Artistry - August 13th

Artistry

Saturday, August 13th

10am to 6pm

Blind Bay Hall

on Blind Bay Road in Blind Bay, BC

 
This Saturday I will be setting up shop at "Artistry" in Blind Bay.  This is a one-day show and sale by local artisans where you will find a variety of handmade goods and the artists who create them.  I have been busy making some new scarves as they are selling like the proverbial hotcakes this summer!  Here are a few of the silk scarves that I have been making this week. A few more silk-wool blend scarves are ready to be un-bundled tomorrow ... one of my favourite things to do!

Isn't this an awesome peony leaf

One end of this long scarf is dark, the other end is light

Eco Print T-Shirt Part III

The t-shirt has dried and been ironed and now it is time to leave it a little while longer before rinsing it for its final reveal ... but in the meantime, here are photos of the t-shirt

I am very pleased with the imprints achieved from the raspberry leaves and the purple Japanese maple. The smoke bush leaves were not as defined as usual, but they do add more to the overall imprint of the piece.

The background is a soft gold that will probably wash out a bit but I am delighted with this, my first attempt at eco printing on a finished garment.

Eco Print T-shirt - Part II

Continuing on with the eco print t-shirt story . . .

The bundle rested for four days after being simmered, until I couldn't stand the suspense any longer and I opened the bundle.

The following photos show the bundle as I was unwrapping it ... first with both imprints and leaves showing and then with the leaves and plastic removed.

I am really pleased with how this has turned out and I will post a photo of the full shirt once it has dried.

Eco Print T-shirt - Part I

I have been interested in trying to eco print on a finished garment . . . I see this as a challenge because of the finished seams and construction details (sleeves!) but also as a way of achieving a design on a specific part of the garment.

I purchased a plain inexpensive cotton t-shirt for this first attempt and I scoured it to remove impurities from the manufacturing process and then pre-mordanted it with alum and soda ash.

I chose leaves from which I could be sure of getting some imprint (raspberry, rose, Japanese maple and smoke bush) but I also added some unknown grasses along the lower edge.

In between the front and back of the shirt I inserted fabric that had been soaked in an iron-rich solution.

The shirt was rolled between layers of plastic onto a thick wooden branch and the outer edge was covered with plastic before being wrapped tightly. I then simmered the bundle in water with iron and onion skins for two hours.