Monday, September 5, 2011

Trial and Error

Natural dyeing with local plants can be like spinning a wheel, hoping for a certain result and sometimes getting lucky. I'm still working with wool and eucalyptus but not getting the bright orange colour I am trying to replicate, in spite of varying my methods. Seeing sheep, other animals and the displays at the Saanich Fair last night was a welcome and completely different kind of dip into local colour.

Here are some of the leaves I collected and am using.



And the result, while still lovely, is largely brown:


So my idea for how I'm putting these together is changing, but there's more to come from the dye pot...


2 comments:

deanna7trees said...

i love the results you got with the leaves even though it's not the color you're after. i have my euc leaves soaking in water for about a week now (trying that to see if it makes a difference) and will make some bundles this week and boil them in the liquid. i'll be happy if i get any kind of leaf markings.

Yvonne said...

Thanks, Deanna. I will check your blog to see - natural dyeing with fresh materials is unpredictable and I love that - and am also puzzled at how to replicate a result.