Category: Plant Dye

23 Aug

Experiments silk bundle dyes 2024

Amelia Hoskins / Plant Dye, Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments

4 BUNDLE DYE SESSIONS overlaying different plant material

2024: My first experiments with bundle dye and eco printing.  The mystery of natural plant dyes is intriguing and fun to try many plants to see what happens.  Even white rose petals can produce some shape outline.  Images of multiple steaming into Ahimsa silk which is thicker than Habotai, a bit like cotton. [Ahimsa - peace silk where the silkworm is not boiled].

Flowers arranged on Ahimsa silk:   Mallow - Linaria lilac - Gladioli purple - Bronze Fennel

Parcel covered with clingfilm for steaming. Foil covered, wrapped around large rose tree root which rests over steam pan.  I vary processes: open steaming 2-3 hrs or closed lid in a trivet for an 1.5hr

Linaria was disappointingly brown, as had previously dyed blue on golden Habotai. Possibly a light vinegar spray caused browning.

[One piece mordanted in alum powder; one piece in soya milk.  Soya produced nothing so subsequently washed and soaked in alum for Sessions 2-4]

SESSION 2:  More plant material

Dahlia leaves - Mallow dried and fresh - sprinkled Linaria - Woad seeds - Geranium petals - Gladioli purpurea - 3 Antirrhinums, -1 Nasturtium - white rose petals - 2 Queen Anne's lace - Bronze fennel

Two silk layers [previously mordanted with alum] were sprayed with white vinegar before folding into a parcel. Sometimes I roll fabric up, sometimes I fold; all experimental.  Parcel wrapped tightly around the steaming stick.

Washed dried mediocre result

Washed dried result

Antirrhinums worked the best, and probably too strong a vinegar spray turned them brown, as they have come out violet before.  Gladioli DOES print, if feintly.  All the material left some mark: even the woad seeds were quite dark. Dahlia leaves were surprisingly pure green, not browned ! and well defined: worth pursuing again with an iron modifier.

Small piece of Habotai silk added in the sandwich, to test on thinner silk.

The bronze fennel leaf is promising, as a print or all over texture background: Brown on alum mordanted Ahimsa silk.  On Habotai mordanted silk - turned bright green AFTER washing with soda ash. Useful as an all over landscape texture.

Note:  Fennel may make a good green dye bath with soda ash.

Fennel print comparison Ahimsa or Habotai

SESSION 3:  More plant material overlay experiment

Mallow - Woad Seeds - Bougainvillea - Himalayan Honeysuckle Leycesteria Formosa

Plant material placed over ahimsa pieces

Cling film over both pieces enclosing plants

Rolling up two silks with clingfilm

Ahimsa roll tied up losley in trivet

Variations of steam processes to see if any way works better.  Parcel wrapped in aluminium foil OR clingfilm -

Wrapped, tied on stick in open pan OR tied in a round with steamer lid on.  Silk has previously been burnt slightly when using foil, so still experimenting.

Ahimsa silks after steaming, washed, pressed:  Both pieces are identical.  Pieces will eventually be used in a garment, but not colourful enough at this stage, only interesting as layer on layer experiment.  Identifying multiple colour marks from photo of plant placements.  New blue-violet effects at top (possible from woad seeds); orangey lower blotches from crimson Himalayan honeysuckle.  Bougainvillea show as identifiable triangular grey-brown shapes; so worth pursuing again on pure white, and modify with iron.  Dahlia green prints faded a bit this time.

SESSION 4:  To get some colour!

Hawthorne leaves - Privet - Honeysuckle crimson sepals - White Rose petals - Blackberries.

Blackberries were placed on the rose petals.  Second Ahimsa piece laid over.  Then pastry roller used to squash the dye out.  Due to strength of colour, it could have done several pieces at once.   Rolling out in pattern directions is also an idea, with small rollers, or pre folding fabric to form geometric mirroring.  Much purple dye lost to the backing cloth.

Sponge dabbing spasmodically of water, from woad seed soaking, with added sprinkling of iron sulphate.

Blackberry stains between two Ahimsa silks: sponged with iron water

Rolled with clingfilm tied with twine

Rolled parcel to coil, tie and suspend over trivet in steaming pan. Coil sits on two pieces of Fuscia branch, to prevent metal heat stains. Branches were scraped of bark which was added to the plant material above.

Rolled coiled parcel suspended in trivet in pan

Unrolling silks after steaming

Unrolled steamed silks extensive blackberry dyed

Two Ahimsa silk pieces. Identical dried results with purple where iron water sponged.

Two Ahimsa silk pieces, upside down to each other.  To break up the iron dulled areas, and add interest, circle designs brush drawn-over with lemon juice show discharged LIGHT effect through 'greyed' (iron) background. Lemon brightens blackberry-pink and discharges greyed background to cream.  Silks were previously dyed a light golden colour, so the iron may have interacted with that too.

Close up of one piece with lemon juice discharged circles

Embroidery Resolution

To give some form to the blackberry dyed blotches; triskele design shapes were painted in lemon juice to embroider over.  Abstracted rose petal shapes embroidered over colours.  Overall effect is 'antique'.  This will work with a kimono lining already in stock; with pink colours similar.  Enough for batwing sleeves.  Purple silk can be added, along with other stock prints with pinks.  With the two pieces of ahimsa, enough for each side.  Useful to dye two pieces together if garment making.

31 Oct

Hawthorn Comfrey St Johns Wort wool and silk 2023-24

Amelia Hoskins / Plant Dye, Plant dye processes / / 0 Comments
Hawthorn 'May blossom' in full bloom with rare magenta Salsify (normally yellow) growing up through.

Autumn FORAGING and DYEING TIME using plants in my allotment

Hawthorn - Comfrey - Tutsan St. John's Wort

Hawthorn berries:  the Hawthorn tree has grown considerably since it seeded itself about 5 years ago.  The amount of blossom in May ensured there would be many berries, which turned bright red by August, but by late October when I got to pick them many were gone.  Previous Hawthorn dyeing was from berries near different rivers. can be compared.

Dye bath is not exhausted after three lots of dyeing, so still has potential for multiple dyeing and to produce a good stock of pale gold silk or wool backgrounds, which is very useful for painting on.  It can be modified with iron for duller tones, or sycamore for more russet darker tones.  This time of year sycamore leaves are plentiful on the ground.

COMFREY LEAVES collected

Comfrey leaves are plentiful in summer.  See previous Comfrey dyeing post.  By autumn, three plants had sprouted new leaves after earlier ones had frizzled away from heat and rain.  They soon brown off in winter so I picked a deep basket full of them all.

  • Soak leaves overnight, pressing as many leaves down into large jam pan as possible.
  • Heat to soften and add more as they soften down. (from a large picking).
  • Boil and simmer for some hours, until leaves mushy
  • Remove leaves; cool liquid before adding wool or silk.

Fine wool cloth was dyed first, soaked overnight, without mordant.  Silk was dyed secondarily, soaked from cooled dye bath, and achieved the same ecru colour.  Notice the colour results are identical for wool or silk, whereas with Hawthorn berries, the colour results are different between fine wool and silk.  RESULTS below after 24 hour soakings

 

Lace dress wet from comfrey dye bath.

Third fabric to soak pigment.

It looked green, but dried grey; only appearing 'green' in photographs.

TUTSAN berries, (EURASIAN ST JOHNS WORT) Hypericum androsaemum 

Used for the first time as I had not seen this plant in books.  The berries produce a good light orange gold on silk, without mordanting.

Both black and red berries were soaked overnight, then boiled and simmered, until skins broke and they became soft.  Plant stuff removed and Habotai silk soaked in liquid in slow cooker, on warm for a while, then cooled overnight.

Secondary dye piece of lace summer top: Lace appears to be cotton and soaked up the dye.  After several hours the lining was still whitish, (photo above wet) so presumed polyester; but after 24 hours, it was just about the same colour as the cotton lace, so it may be viscose or silk organdie.  (felt like organdie).   More pigment still visible in dye bath to be used for another piece.  Used berries in photo.

Comparisons below of wet cloths: Tutsan dyed silk (left), and Hawthorne dyed fine wool (right)

Bundle steaming - petals and leaves - on Tutsan dyed silk

Textured antique background for painting over

  1. Laying dried geranium petals, dried daffodils, red antirrhinum petals and other purple flowers, and  on silk.
  2. Wrap around 1 inch wide strip of cardboard; roll around; make into bundle ring and tie with twine.
  3. Suspend bundle over dye bath pan.  Steam for an hour.
  4. RESULT:  'Antique' effect mottled brown and dull pink, with yellow from the daffodils. Motifs repeated in stripes, the width of the cardboard.
  5. Can be tried with any petals and seeds and leaves on any pastel shade to give textured effect.

Images copyright Amelia Jane Hoskins Please email for use permission.