Endeavor to change - Mustard dye 植物印染衣飾

 

 A botanical imprinted scarf / vest redyed to mustard color.  

This is the piece of prints I endeavor to redye for gradual color.

 I picked the Lagerstroemia Indica with some yellow, red and green.  Hope to get different shades from autumn windfalls.

 I laid the assorted leaves, a few eucalyptus and bundle boiled the silk fabric for 1.5 hours.

This is the picture of the layout and outcome.

 I intended to put some more leaves on the top of the square fabric to make it a vest / scarf, simply lined two arm holes and hemmed. A multi-style of vest of "upside-down".

 Prints of Lagerstroemia Indica are not much different in spite of green or windfalls of yellow . The long and orange prints are eucalyptus.

 With tannin of leaves and iron, the watercolor painterly effect is so pleasing but I sometimes this is only happy accidents.

 Prints on the collar as a vest .......

 Simply a scarf

 

I thought it's no harm to make mustard color on the lower part.

 So I redyed the fabric in the eco dye pot.

The left one is before and right one is after dyed.

 The scarf / vest of gradual green

 Left is undyed, the right one dyed

 

I've to admit the original undyed one is fair enough but keen on experiments I will get the idea of different effect.  

On and off people asked me about eco print / dye.  I'm happy to share common queries.  For my way of getting this mustard green on silk, I use turmeric + logwood + alum. 

 Before putting in the dye pot, I soak the fabric in water with alum.   I soak the logwood chips for a few hours then wrap it with a scrap of fabric, .  For a pot of about 1 L water, I put a teaspoon each of turmeric, logwood and alum.  All together bring to boil then simmer for 10 min.  The longer the stay in the pot the darker the color. 

That's what I got.

Have a nice day ! Until next time.

Eco printed autumn themed scarfs 秋意盎然植物印染絲巾

 We're into hot summer but a light scarf is still a fashion accessory in air-con office. To have a crispy summer day, I made the fall themed scarfs with mixed colors.

The two scarfs,  above and below of different patterns.

 This one with few strokes of pine prints as tree branches and a few rose leaves,  some eucalyptus cinerea for the bright orange / reddish.

 The "before and after" of leaves laying - casaurina pines, assorted euc, rose leaves and maples

 Shades of color are due to iron mordant and assorted euc.

 After 1.5 hours boiling came the bold prints

 

"Hearts" of euc cinerea

 

 Rose leaves with iron mordant

 Rose leaf without direct iron mordant but "immersed" by the nearby leaves.

 Maple leaves with iron mordant

 

Silk scarf with mixed windfalls

Quite some people asked me about eco printing, lots enquiries from local, Argentina, Chile, US......even Uruguay.  Well, I'm happy to share with like-minded.

If you're the first time to make a silk scarf with this prints without any mordant, are you happy?  That's done by my student's first time under my guidance.

 For beginners if they can do prints of orange / reddish shades from eucalyptus with simple process I suppose would be pleased. Some people said that they'd never got bright color, sharp prints, dark shades...... I said eco printing is quite regionalism.  Plants, water, soil, temperature, process and methods of making are factors of outcome.  Here in Hong Kong I rarely have purple, blue or yellow direct prints from leaves.or flowers.  

 With more experiments I can make shades.  Mogi is happy in the shade!

 

  

 This scarf is on my ETSY shop

 

  

Also this one on my ETSY shop 

 

Linking with CreativePrincess
Have a good day !