Dyeing with Plants

Dyeing with plants is an ancient craft.

Extracting pigment from plants and soil is my way of

  • saving colours,
  • of finding hidden colours,
  • of catching nature’s range of colours and arranging it on fabric and yarn.

Some colours stand up to washing whilst others fade quickly or disappear totally over time.  When dyeing with plants  I try to ensure that I use plants that are substantive and not fugitive.  For this reason I do not use eg berries.  I also try not to mix eco printing of exotic plants with our eucalypts as they have different requirements.

 I use natural fibres – silk, wool, cotton, linen, bamboo and paper.

What I use: Re-use: Recycle:
  • leaves fresh or dried
  • bark
  • fruit skins
  • acorns, husks
  • seeds
  • compost heap
  • soils
  • rocks
  • cloth from natural fibres
  • flowers & leaves from bouquets, arrangements
  • pruned sections of plants
  •  foliage from eco printing to do sun printing
  • clothes from op shops
  • rags
  • string
  • old pots

 
  • anything used in dyeing onto the garden OR into the compost heap
  • all water used in dyeing onto the garden
  • use bundling
  • cloths and paper in my art work

 

 Environmentally responsible practices:

  • low immersion process for dyeing
  • minimising use of water in rinsing process to extract excess dyes
  • collecting windfall foliage, or foliage cut down to clear foliage around electricity wires
  • recycling cloth

I create original, unique one of a kind silk, wool, silk and wool blend, and cotton pieces using either  natural dyes, ecoprinting, fibre reactive or acid dyes.  Most pieces are created using plant material from the local environment, material collected on travels in Australia or personalised by using plant material from a person’s home environment.  Every piece is individually crafted using dyes extracted from plants or chemical dyes.

Posted in Dyeing, Eco printing, Natural Dyeing

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