Before I went to Mansfield, I had a moment of imagining what it would be like to return from a sewing circle and re-enter the world of work at the crunch point of the year. So I took some steps to create things to return home to. I gathered leaves and retrieved saved leaves.
I decided on a well used round table-cloth I’d been given. Much loved and much washed and presumed (by me) to be linen.
No round tables here. It was destined to be ripped and turned into something new. I added in woad leaves and seeds as well as E Scoparia leaves and continus nipped from a tree that hangs over a fence. Here is a stuff, steep and store jar of woad seeds where the silk thread within is turning purple, with a continus leaf for colour comparison. Wow!
The bundles went into the dye pot on the day I left home. Just as I headed out to a laundrette to deal with a laundry crisis that reorganised my last day at home and shall not be detailed here.
I pulled them out of the dye pot as I went to the airport. Finally, some time after I returned, unbundling time arrived. The Euc prints are wonderful!
I just love linen!
The woad leaves and seeds left traces of green and burgundy and purplishness. But only traces. The bundle may have been a bit too loose. Ah, but those few continus leaves gave purple! Who knew? Well, I didn’t! But now I am glad I bought one on special at a nursery last winter. It had lost its leaves and was not a prepossessing looking plant at the time, but now… well… I need to let it keep growing, clearly…
Local & Bespoke 
I’m part wsy through unbundling just noe, but things are looking very subdued. Will report later.
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Sorry to hear it’s not to your liking… re-bundle? Cook longer? Start fresh? Reconsider end use? So many things to consider–I do them all. Wishing you luck!
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The thread is good but the fabric was disappointing. That said the fabric is cheesecloth so I think I can use it torn into strips, hand-twisted and stitched down with running stitch. I learned that from Judy Roscoe Turner, quite a few years ago. The threads are more usable. Dark enough for light backgrounds and light enough on a darker cloth. I’ll see how they go.
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Fingers crossed for a result you can love. Happy holidays!
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Ta, you too!
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What beautiful results! I have some scraps of linen, quite small that I would like to print on and convert into to a patch bag. They have been dunked in the sea and dried. I also have some shop bought soya milk that a friend tried and did not like and I was wondering if you know if this ‘ready made’ soya milk works well as a mordant, rather than the whole bean soak process?
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the ready made stuff is just fine
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Thank you 🙂
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This sounds like a perfect project, Lucy! India has already answered your question–have fun! I was given some soy mail that is years out of date this week and I’ll water that down some and use it too. I find more than one dip and dry improves my strike rate. Enjoy!
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Thank you for that tip, I would not have thought of repeating the dip and dry process. I will definitely do that to improve the results 🙂
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Happy Unbundling Days Aplenty for Christmas… Your prints with leaves look wonderful – I think I may have to look into finding out how to do this myself. Lovely to read your blog and Merry Christmas….
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Thanks Lydia, that’s very kind of you! I can only highly recommend this process as low cost (unless you insist on silks…), a good way to learn more about your local plants, and fun! Wishing you a lovely 2016. m
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the purples are fabulous…I have a tiny cotinus from a plant swap this autumn…now there’s even more reason to love it. Maybe it can alleviate some of my eucalyptus envy (once it’s big enough). : )
Wishing you and yours happy and healthy holidays and looking forward to another year of wonderful posts about your adventures in making a better, more beautiful world.
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Aren’t the purples amazing? It’s a further argument for time as dyer’s friend. My cotinus is tiny too, but apparently I can wait. Thanks for your kind holiday wishes. I hope you have a fabulous holiday season and a wonderful new year too!
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