I had a go at eco dyeing using leaves. I tried it on a silk scarf and come callico so that I could see the results. The material was washed then soaked overnight in a mordant of 5 parts water to 1 part soya milk. I squeezed out the moisture the next day then lay cotinus leaves on the fabric and rolled it round either a lenth of dowel rod or a length of copper. I then tied it tightly with cotton string and steamed it for 2 hours with a couple of handfuls of blackberries. I left it to cool in the pot and then opened it. I dried it then ironed it and then washed, dried and ironed again. The results are below, the silk was the most sucessful.
I have joined a very useful group on Facebook called Printing Botanicals. I posted the results and got very useful feedback. I was advised to
- wash the material after taking it out of the mordant and squeeze it until it was just damp, I left too much moisture in it.
- not to bother using blackberries because these fade over time.
- dip the leaves in an iron solution before laying them down.
- use blackberry leaves as they print well but they are best as the leaves get older after they have finished fruiting (more tannin in them then?)
