I can't believe it, where did September go? I've been reading a Blog by India Flint. She does Eco Dyeing with plants including leaves and berries. I just love her things. I decided to give it a try yesterday so here is my process and the results.
#1 I used a 100% silk scarf for my project. I picked some leaves and flowers from my garden. Zinnia, Rose Leaves and some others. I dampened the scarf and laid some of the plant material across one side. Then I folded the other side on top. The scarf is now folded in half lengthwise.
#2 I carefully rolled the scarf on to a piece of branch Ronnie had cut for me. It needed to fit into my dye pot.
#3 I tied up the bundle with some strong string, around and around with a few leaves placed on top before adding the string.
#4 I placed the bundle in boiling water with some beet juice and onion skins added for color. I didn't want the white of the scarf to remain pure white. :) Boiled this with cover on for 1 hour. Turned off the heat and let it sit to cool down overnight. Patience is the name of the game here.
#5 This morning I removed the string, cleaned off the plant material, dried the scarf, then ironed it.
I was disappointed more of the leaves didn't seem to print. The Zinnia leaves did print and I'm happy with that. Some pieces of flowers printed a bit but not really attractive. I like the marks the string made at the bottom of one edge. (see below)
This was an interesting project and I may do another using all zinnia leaves, we'll see. Remember to Play a Little Each Day!
Peace,
Diane
