Several years ago I became determined to learn eco-printing.....and was relentless in bugging my fiber buddies to take up this technique. Kate, Judy, and I did our first marathon 3 years ago at Kate's place on Folly Beach. We realized it took lots of experimenting and more knowledge than we had. However, we came away with some successful pieces.....and haven't stopped experimenting ever since.
Eco-printing (dyeing) involves the transfer of plant pigments to cloth or fiber with or without the use of mordants and other substances. Here I've soaked a piece of wool in a soy milk bath, sprinkled with cumin and arranged pine needles over on top. It was then rolled around a wood dowel, secured with string or rubber bands. At this point the bundle can be placed in a steamer (or a large turkey roaster pan) containing a vinegar/water solution and steamed for 1-2 hours.
In this case, we used a large pot filled with a rich iron/vinegar water solution on a stove top and simmered the fabric bundles for about an hour.
Tongs are used to transfer them to an old cookie sheet to cool before unwrapping.
As I gathered fabrics for a new project I was kinda surprised at how little I have left in my once fairly large 'magic' stack. I love working with the eco-prints and have created a lot of wall art featuring the fabric. I guess it's time to get the pots out again!!!
Here two prints are teamed up with rust/brown colorways of batiks. They were printed on a lighter weight, good quality burlap type fabric...not really sure what it was but it had a soft, drappy hand which printed beautifully and provided extra texture that a traditional cotton weave wouldn't have. Happy with the results....I kept going and the finished piece is shown below.
"BOTANICAL MAGIC" - 22.5" x 26.5"
Natural cotton burlap eco-printed with leaves & pine needles. Steamed in vinegar/iron solution to transfer their natural tannins to the cloth. Imported cotton Batik surround the magical prints. Machine quilted with metallic thread.
DETAIL
Linking to: Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday & Sarah's Whoop, Whoop Friday.
12 comments:
Terrific effect! I love this technique
Wow, such creativity and beautiful results!! I'll have to try this.
I adore the effects of botanical printing yet have no desire to do it myself! Your work is absolutely lovely and it will be fun to follow along with your experiments as you get out the dye pots again!
Those prints came out very well, and I really like how you've put them together.
I saw this on FB and it's FANTASTIC!!!!! Just a great piece, Mary!!!!
This is a very appealing piece. Eco-dyed fabrics are just wonderful. Every now and again I eye leaves or other plant materials, wondering what they might do in a "stew" like that. But so far have not tried this type of dyeing. Your results move me closer to jumping in! I just took an indigo dye class the other day. It was fun, but it's so messy I'm not sure I want to do much of it. Thanks for visiting my blog- the Halloween necklace was very fun to make and wear.
Thank you all for your generous comments.....this technique is truly magic, but also messy and does require lots of experimenting and even then, it's fickle and one is never really sure what the results will be. Part of the fun I think!
Excellent! Not knowing what you'll get is absolutely the best part. And you won the lottery on this project
That is a gorgeous piece, of the kind of color palette that draws me in. I've come to realize that one of the things that make eco-prints magical is the way they so often produce the look of depth, as especially shown in the big maple block. Stronger more distinct prints appear to float in space over the the paler less distant ones. Magic indeed.
Sheila - you are so right....the happy surprise always comes when a sense of depth pops out.....it's elusive.....and I've never been able to repeat it consistently. It happens most often when processing with iron or using an iron blanket. The magic of eco-printing keeps me coming back again and again.
What can I say....beautiful piece as always!
You really got some terrific results with your eco-dyeing and I love the way you put them all together. Bravo!
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