Translate

Monday, August 8, 2011

Wow!!!

I think I  am going to jump ahead a little.  I was going to talk about dyeing with simple things.  Instead, I am going to show you my latest adventure of dyeing my first silk scarf with simple things.  In one photo you will see the little 8"x54" white silk scarf after it had been bundled with Eucalyptus (euca) leaves, euca bark, willow leaves, yellow onion skins then boiled for 1 Hr. in a pokeberry dyebath.  Right here let me say that the pokeberry plant (Phytolaca) is toxic.  Birds eat the berries without ill effect because the tiny seeds containing the toxins pass right through.  The rest of the plant is unusable.  DO NOT cook the plant stems, leaves and especially the roots! Handle the berries with gloves, not because of the toxins, but because they will stain your hands dark purple.  I put one gallon of water in an enameled kettle, and brought the water to a boil.  I added the pokeberries and as they simmered, I mashed them against the walls of the kettle. I bundled the scarf with its contents around a wooden spoon and tied it with string.  I then immersed the bundle in the kettle and weighted it down with a small glass jar that I had slid sideways into the kettle so the inside and outside would be the same temperature.  When the kettle returned to the boil, I let it boil for one Hr., turned the burner off and let the bundle cool in the dyebath.  About 5 hrs. later the dyebath was cool.  I took the bundle out, opened it gently and hung it on  the clothesline to dry. (to be continued).

8 comments:

  1. When I awoke this morning, I went right away to see my bundle. (You'll do this too whenever you try something for the first time.) Most of the plant material had fallen out and the silk was dry. The photo shows the results of the dyebath.

    ReplyDelete
  2. After letting the scarf completely dry for about 12 hrs. I ironed it with a pressing cloth and steam iron. Then I took it outside and rinsed it with rainwater and let it dry again. After looking at it for awhile I decide to try some Shibori technique. In case you do not know what Shibori is, think tie-dye and more. It is a 400 yr. old art of pleating, tying, folding or clamping fabric and dyeing it to create a pattern on the cloth with the dye. Sometimes the designs are really difficult and time-sonsuming to create. mine are fairly simple. You may Google Shibori and find out more.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The second and third photos show the completed scarf with the twisted and tied shibori design after it was tied and dipped quickly into an iron water bath. (This is called post-mordanting.) I dried the piece again, making sure the tie strings were also dry. When I was sure it was o.k., I removed the strings and the photos show the result of the shibori method.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you, Connie. Visit often. If there is anything special you want me to cover on the blog, feel free to let me know.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, James, your blog is fantastic! Thank you so much for the wealth of information included here. One question...I'm not familiar with post mordanting. What is it and when is it used?

    I'm eyeing the pokeberry bush in the backyard as I type;-)

    Hope your morning is off to a fantastic start.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good morning, Dawn. Post-mordanting is when you apply something to the fabric after dyeing,i.e.: dipping your fabric in an iron water solution, vinegar, ammonia. These can be added directly to the dye solution or used as a dip afterwards. I have not done an ammonia dip yet, so I can tell you personally the results. Vinegar tends to brighten your dye colors (especially reds,oranges and yellows), iron tends to darken them. A lot depends on your original dyebath & pot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. See the "Expanding on Rothko" on the left, the dark mustard color is post-mordanted with iron water. The original color is on the left. In a tale of 2 sunflowers, the left piece is post mordanted with iron, the original piece is on the right.
    Sheila we are so glad you joined us.

    ReplyDelete