Wednesday 31 March 2010

More Spring Greens

I created my first ever green plant stained cloth this week. Using the beautiful new green leaves from the river bank and binding them inside silk Habotai, I crushed the bundle to release the wonderful vivid green stain. I am really pleased with the resulting fabric, which seems to capture the verdant shimmer of the woodland floor.


6 comments:

  1. What a marvelous effect. Can I ask how long you left it wrapped up for to get such a vivid result?
    (Was the silk damp before putting the leaves in?)

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  2. I left it about 24 hours, the fabric was dry when I put the leaves in. I'm not sure the colour would remain if washed, but I'm not to worried about that.

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  3. A truly glorious result! I would be over-the-moon if this was mine...its so organic and YUMMY :>]]

    2 questions: do you happen to know which plant it was? and do you think you would get a similar result on a different kind of silk?

    Thank you so much for sharing these gorgeous images.

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  4. There were several plants in the bundle but a lot of the colour probably came from the ramsons. I would just recommend experimenting with what you have to hand. I'm a great fan of being resourceful with what you've got! If you don't set out with great expectations you can only be pleasantly surprised.

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  5. oh that's beautiful! i looked for ransoms in the woods the day before yesterday, but they're not out here yet. soon tho' they will be and i'll definitely be trying this. as well as throwing them into my salads and cooking with them - they're so delicious!

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  6. I boil the bundle for 5 mins., simmer for maybe a half hour, then let it soak and cool down overnight. Take outside and dry in the sunshine. Unwrap to see your results. I most often use onion skin or red cabbage natural dye water to "cook" the scarves. Rinse w/cold water, wash w/mild soap, rinse, dry and iron on the silk setting. They are then washable and color-safe. They may fade if left out in the sun for extended periods of time.

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