No Cooking!

Not much cooking in the last couple of weeks while Mr Notjustnat was away on an overseas trip. All that cooking on the stove was this eco dyeing with the new found eucalyptus leaves my friend Jacky brought me. All the time I have been doing eco dyeing I have never got imprints from any of the plants or flowers I tried, but this magic Eucalyptus Silver Dollars (Eucalyptus Cinerea) has given me beautiful imprints on my vintage kimono silk. 

I didn't expect the leaves to give me any imprint so I just wrapped them into a bundle. I wished I had arranged the leaves to get the most out of the prints. Well, next time I know what to do. It pays to read India Flint's book Eco Colour before dyeing!  

Two different pieces of dyed silk. The piece on the left was immersed under the leaves and cut up branches in the liquid and the piece on the right was wrapped around the leaves and sat on top. I have a big plan for my dyed fabric. I'm making a big quilt! 

Here is how it looked before the steaming process started. I must tell you the boiling gave out a beautiful eucalyptus scent. This week I have been looking out for more of the silver dollars leaves on my walks and I'm happy to report that I have spotted a few already. They are not as common as the other types of eucalyptus trees, but if you know what you are looking for you will find them.

I'm so delighted to get a comment on my last post eco dye using bark from the master of eco dyeing, India Flint herself. She told me something I didn't know about bark.  India Flint will be giving a 3-day workshop here at Beautiful Silks in Dec. 2011. Did you know that India's new book Second Skin is due out soon!