After last year’s experiments with monochromatic botanical dyeing I decided to use less ferrous in the mordant and less tannin. I wanted to get a lighter background and more colour. As soon as the weather co-operated this spring I was back out in the dying/greenhouse/garden shed! I was less diligent in documenting the process with photos this time, but very happy with the results!
In the gallery below is my first experiment dyeing a bag using some circles as a resist and laying it on one of my tannin cloths. I just wet the tannin cloth but did not add more tannin – there was enough residual tannin from last year to get a result.
The next cloth also used a re-used tannin cloth with a variety of spring plants and onion skins. It produced a lovely blue from grape hyacinths. The image on the left is wet just after dyeing and the one on the right is washed and dried.
My next dyeing session I decided to lay cloth’s one on top of the other and fold them rather than roll them. I also did not use a tannin carrier cloth. The images below show the results from photinia, dandelion flowers and raspberry leaves. All in all I am happy with the clarity of the prints and the colours! Ready for dandelion season next year!
quiltiquity 