Shibori vs Eco Dyeing

Shibori online workshop is still going. I'm so thrilled to learn the art of Shibori dyeing. Shibori dyeing technique takes a lifetime to master. Because I only do it for personal use what I've learned is good enough. There are many techniques in Shibori. The one I really like is called stitched Shibori. Within the stitched Shibori there are many patterns you can create. 

I have been learning stitched Shibori in the last couple of weeks. The above left technique is called Karamatsu Shibori. You stitch the patterns in the circle on folded fabric. The above right technique is called Komasu Shibori. You stitch the pattern using square template again stitch on folded fabric. 

I got so excited with my first result that I tried it the second time with more folds on the fabric. In the left photo was how the fabric looked after I stitched the pattern ready to dye. I'm so happy how it turned out. I'm using this piece for a scarf. I have to take some show and tell on my trip so I thought I would take this scarf. 

My class mate Deanna was dyeing Shibori using natural dye with onion skin. It turned out very well. I love natural dyeing so at the weekend we went for a picnic and I found some Liquid Amber leaves on the ground and thought I would try dyeing with them. A few weeks ago I would throw in a piece of silk into the dye, but since I started this Shibori class I couldn't help putting some Shibori stitches on the pieces. I was pleased how they turned out. The colour is not yellow or brown, but it has both yellow and brown mixed. Very beautiful! 

Itajimi Shibori

Apart from experimenting with eco-dyeing (natural dye), I'm also taking Shibori online workshop with Glennis Dolce from Shibori Girl. If you have been reading my blog you would have guessed that I'm interested in dyeing. Yes I have been dyeing for more than 10 years now. My first experience with dyeing was natural dye using Eucalyptus leaves and dyeing spun yarn that I spun myself. Then I went on to dye quilting fabric using Procion dye. Recently I got back to dyeing with natural (eco-dye) again following India Flint's book Eco Colour. This time I'm experimenting with other plants and flowers and dyeing using vintage kimono silks. 

My interest in Japanese art and textiles has led me to Shibori dyeing. In this workshop Glennis shows us all the Shibori techniques using videos and PDF. 

The first lesson is on Protect (Itajimi Shibori). The technique uses shapes and objects to block the areas of the fabric from the dye. I am interested in reusing, recycling and re-purposing material so I have been using shapes from bathroom mosaics tiles, buttons, coins and cut up CD-ROM as shapes. Some of the fabrics were rejected pieces that I had natural dyed previously and wasn't happy with them. 

The above piece was folded and blocked with pieces of mosaic tiles on either sides and secured with clamps. I dyed it using Procion dye in fuchsia and torquoise. The fabric was silk kimono lining.  

These few pieces were dyed using various shapes and colours. You can still see the trace of imprints from the natural dyeing I did previously. It does give interesting prints on the piece. 

These are fragile pieces of silk that I added at the end of the process to soak up the leftover dye. 

These are premixed dyes stored in sauce bottles and kept in the refrigerator ready to be used.  My friend Jacky who is also taking the same workshop joined me last weekend to dye this batch together. We really had a fun day. 

Some pieces in the dye bath. With Procion dyes I have to leave them at least 5-6 hours. For a better results it should be left overnight. 

My trip to Japan is still on as planned and this is what our experienced organiser had to say: "It's my belief that (assuming that we go as planned in safety and that transportation is secured) our travel time there will be doubly rewarded. Japan will want and need people to resume visiting. And as we always do, we will approach our trip doing our utmost to spread goodwill, friendship, and knowledge through our study and exchange with artists, crafts people and researchers along our silk road. It's an opportunity for all."

I totally agree with what she said and of course if the situation becomes unsafe or if the government issues a 'no travel' warning to Japan at the time of the trip, then the trip will be canceled. 

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!

Eco Dyed and CWQ Block 8

Haven't been very active here lately. My online workshop is almost at an end and I've signed up for a Shibori technique workshop with Glennis and a cloth whispering for mini hearts with Jude again in April. Then in May is my Silk Study Tour to Japan. I'm so looking forward to it. Through my online network I discovered that an annual Shibori festival is on in Arimatsu, Nagoya Prefecture while we are there. My friend and I will visit that too. How very exciting! 

I have been doing some eco dyeing in the last couple of weeks with eucalyptus barks. The eucalyptus trees are shedding their bark in Spring. I collected some on my daily walks. To my surprise the bark produces a beautiful deep tan colour. Actually I have a dye pot going most days with various stuff. 

These are the 2 pieces of vintage silk dyed with eucalyptus bark. The piece on the right I scrunched into a ball and tied with rubber bands. The one on the left was pleated and folded into a neat bundle, then tied with rubber bands. I boiled the bark for about an hour and dropped the silk bundle into the pot and boiled it for another 45 mins. I left the bundles in the pot outdoors until they completely dried before I untied and rinsed the excess dye off. 

To my surprise there was not any excess from the dye at all. The water ran clear. So this is a successful batch of dye and I will gather more bark next time I walk that way. I have been keeping a chart for all the dye I'm doing now. My daughter-in-law insisted I keep a dye chart for the future use. Good idea.

And here where the barks came from. The tree is bare after shredding all of it barks. The tree trunk is still have fresh pinkish bark on it. Such a treasure find! 

Finished block 8 Cotton Boll of the Civil War Quilts block of the week last night. This block went together very well. I love that my 'F' fabric fitted in the block perfectly again. It's really surprised me how well any colour goes with the 'F' fabric. If you want to see more of the finished blocks visit flickr page for the CWQ 2011. 

Hope everyone is well and keeping busy with your creations. I hope to have a chance to visit all your blogs soon.

Coastal Colour and QLD. Floods

Before I begin I would like to join many bloggers calling to give a hand to help the Queensland, Australia floods appeal. Click on the above button to visit Daisy Quilt and read more on how you can help QLD floods 2011. You can also help in other ways by clicking on the list below:

- Oz Comfort Quilts

- Make sewing kit

- Support an Auction or Raffle

- Bake Relief

I will try and make a sewing kit this weekend to send off. Thanks everyone for your emails about us here in Australia. 

Today I just want to share some photos from our Christmas and New Year holiday with you. It was a very low key holiday where Mr N and I spent some peaceful time together. We went to the coast near Seabird, our retirement property we purchased in 2010. We couldn't of cause stay at Seabird, it is only an empty plot of land at the moment, but we did stay close enough to be able to take a swim on our beach! I am so excited to say the word 'our beach'! In the not too distant future I will be swimming there everyday. 

Apart from relaxing and visiting many beautiful beaches in the area I was also looking out for any potential plants and flowers for dyeing. I was reading on kaite yarngarden a while ago about Coreopsis flowers so when I spotted them all over the road side I had to stop and gather some to try. Kaite also told me that sea water is mordant. The recipe for this eco dye batch is 2 bottles of sea water, 48 Coreopsis flowers boiled together for 30 mins. I drained the liquid into a jar and stored it in an ice box until we got home. The Coreopsis flowers also gave out a beautiful aroma while boiling. 

 

I was eager to try my concoctions when I got home. I wrapped some vintage silk around eucalyptus leaves and branches hoping to get some imprints on the fabric. I boiled the fabric  for about 30 mins. I threw one ball of pearl cotton in there for good measure. The result is as you see above. 

Beautiful day at Bawley Point Beach. With my newly acquired camera I was so happy snapping away at it. The upward view of eucalyptus trees with crisp blue sky above. Eucalyptus trees are a common sight everywhere in Australia. I have learned to love everything about the tree from its smell, the shapes of the leaves etc. You can use every part of the tree for dyeing. Eucalyptus trees are used in many famous Australian paintings. 

On the left hand side of the Bawley Point Beach is a beautiful rock structure you can climb and walk around it. From when I was young I loved walking on rocks and searching for interesting creatures or drift wood. I found this star flower caught in between rocks. Simple and peaceful place for it. 

Rocks that lie closer to the water's edge get washed over by waves. The algae covers and gives the rock a vibrant green colour. Bawley beach is a surf beach and you can spot some surfers waiting to catch the big waves at the top of the photos. 

Rock formations give patterns that I can transform into stitching. I was looking out for patterns and lines on rock that inspire me to create a sea cloth. More on that later. 

Well holidays would have to come to an end sometime. We are back and started work for another year. Stitching will have to fit in with my daily routine. Completing projects is getting harder. I am looking forward to my online workshop with Jude starting on Jan. 19th. 

Take it Easy and Enjoy the Christmas Preparation Process

I finally finished a total of 10 mug mates. Most of them have been posted off to different parts of the globe. My lovely and patient friends are very understanding when they receive their gifts late from me. I actually like getting late presents because after all the activities of Christmas are over you still have more presents to look forward to. 

In between making gifts I also did some eco dyeing. I have found many interesting plants and flowers on my drives to work that I thought I would try them out. The results are quite pleasing. So please read on...

A stack of mug mates completely finished with the binding all stitched. I hand quilted all the blue ones and machine quilted the bright ones. I'm not an expert on machine quilting (no time to practice) so hand quilting is my preferred method. 

I found this cutest mug with polka dots and strawberries all over. A simple strips piecing using scraps is a simple way to make this mug mate. I'm sure my friend will like it.

An indigo blue mug mate with a single pinwheel block looks good for this one. The mug I got from Oxfam. They come in a box of four mugs in different designs but all in blue and white. I have got the whole box for myself. Just love them. 

I hit lucky last weekend when I visited my local op-shop (thrift shop) and found this handmade stitch basket. The stitching is in indigo blue. I make stitch baskets and know how much work went into stitching this basket. I loved to rescue it and give it a new life. I gave it a wash and scrub, and you can see how well it turned out.  I'm so pleased with my find!

Eco colour: I got lucky in both of my experiments this week. On the top row is New Zealand flax flowers. It is the first time my NZ flax plant has flowered and I thought I would try dyeing with it. I wrapped them in a piece of dupioni silk and gave the bundle a good pounding before steaming it for 30 mins and let it sits for 24 hours before unwrapped. The top right photo shows the result. 

The bottom row of photos is the prunus tree that are in full colour at the moment. I used the leaves to dye with. I used the same method as the NZ flax dyeing. The result is very pleasing indeed.  

My dear friend Jane is turning 60 this week. I was given the task of binding a book for her. Her family organized blank pages of papers for family and friends to fill in. After all the pages came back they needed to be put together into a book so that is what I did by binding it (top left). The theme for Jane's party is 60s. Lucky me I have a whole CD of 60s prints so I chose one to use for the cover. There is Jane in pink toasting for her birthday. The bottom left photo is the page I did for Jane's book. Happy Birthday Dear Jane...! 

Hope life is not too hectic for you at this time. Take it easy and enjoy the Christmas preparation process. If you are around please come back to enter my giveaways to be posted on Dec. 24th. I have a treat for you all so don't miss out. We will be away during Christmas and New Year and will leave the giveaways up until we return to draw it. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

EVERYONE...♥

Eco Dyeing Yellow

During the organizing of the Notjustnat Exhibition I hardly picked up any stitching. I did do some blog reading, specially the one on Eco Dyeing. I thought I would get back to try some more eco dyeing and this time with these dainty yellow flowers. These were the earlier spring flowers I gathered in the garden at my work. I think they are a type of weed. I'm not sure what they are. I looked up on Google image and they might be clover flowers. If you know exactly what they are please let me know. 

I boiled up the flowers and didn't have time to use it for ages. Then I had to leave for Sydney and didn't want to waste the beautiful golden yellow liquid so I decided to put the liquid in a jar and refrigerated it while I was away in Sydney.  

After returned from Sydney, I read on Kaite's blog about her coreopsis flowers yellow dyeing and remembered the jar of yellow liquid I had in the refrigerator! I used linen, cotton, silk and a piece of lacy fabric that I thought would not dye. I had nothing to lose in trying. I added a ball of pearl thread with small amount of alum. I tied some of the fabric and boiled it for about 30 minutes. I've left the saucepan out on the deck for a few days before I rinse it out.  

These are how they turned out. The color is much deeper yellow than the photo, but somehow it didn't turned out well in the photo. I'm really really happy with this batch, I think the alum helps to set the dye onto the fabric and the colour didn't rinse off afterward. 

Have you tried eco dyeing yet? I'm looking forward to our Christmas vacation on the South Coast near Seabird (our block of land). I'm planning to take my dye pot with me and do some experiment with what I might find there. It should be an interesting find...! 

Eco Dyeing Bug

I got the eco dyeing bug from India Flint's book, Eco Colour. There are quite a few of us here on blogland that got the same bug. A few that I've been following are: Kaite, Deanna, Jude, Jacky and the latest one I came across  is call Resurrection, it's amazing! Once you got this bug you would never walk pass a tree or flowers without translating them into colour you can dye from. There is a beautiful Australia garden where I work. I take a walk around it for exercise daily. On the same walk I look out for what would be possible dyeing materials. I of course only gather the ones on the ground blown by the wind - branches, leaves and flowers. These are the best because they are mature and ready for dyeing. The last batch I dyed a few days ago using Eucalyptus branches, leaves and flower buds. I don't have a clue what species of Eucalyptus they are. I have read somewhere that there are 270 species of Eucalyptus in Australia. Am I right Kaite? 

The last couple of years when I was heavily into basket weaving I actually used materials from the same garden and made a few baskets from them. 

In this dye batch I used silk from the lining of a vintage Kimono. Another piece of vintage silk, linen and cotton. I wrapped each piece around a thick branch and used some leaves to roll it up tightly and secured it with elastic bands, I then boiled up some leaves and branches in a saucepan I use only for dyeing. I sat the 4 bundles on top  and immersed some in liquid and steamed them for 30-40 minutes. I left the bundles for a day or two before unwrapping them.

After I unwrapped the bundles I rinsed them thoroughly and pressed them. Eucalyptus dye generally gives an orange to brown tint depending on the type of trees. You can see these fabrics were dyed in the same bath, but they turned out differently. 

Above left is vintage silk I bought off the roll and it seems to be taking the dye quite well. The piece on the right is cotton from a tablecloth. I just wandered if it's not 100% cotton because it didn't take the dye all that well. 

Silk Kimono lining turned out very nicely. I love the mottled look caused by the leaves I wrapped in the bundle. Click to see a close up of the hand stitches that came with the piece when I got it. It also has loose thread that I will use to stitch back into it. I actually bought the whole silk lining for only $10 from Ziguzagu. I'm having fun cutting small pieces from it for dyeing. 

This piece is linen that used to be part of a tablecloth. It has the eyelets design running through the piece. I think linen takes the dye very well. You can find linen blouses from op-shops for this purpose. I've found a few of them lately, but they are such good quality blouses that  I can't bring myself to cut them up. I will wear them  for a while before I put them in the dye bath. 

If you have never dyed before, you should have a go. It's easy and fun, but be warned; it's addictive too. You may ask what will you do with the fabric after you dyed it? Right, for me because I like playing with cloth and stitches so I intend to use the hand dyed fabric for projects. Take one of Jude's online workshops and you will understand what I mean...!