Portfolio of older work

Monday, January 3, 2011

Pocket Frogs and Eco Dyeing

My dear husband gotme an Ipod Touch for Christmas.  I am having difficulty learning how to do everything I want to do with it but I found a free game called Pocket Frogs.  The good news is that I am on Level 10 now.  The bad news is that I have little else to show for my time since Christmas.  Just what I need, another addiction.

Brownie also gave me a lovely poinsetta plant.  I planned to enjoy it for a while and then see what results I would get wrapping it in silk and boiling it.  Well, one of the major branches of the poinsetta broke off so the time schedule got moved up.  Here are the results.  I love it!


I also had a dozen red roses waiting to be boiled that I got from my hair dresser.. She had gotten them for an anniversay present and I asked if I could have them for a dye project when they were dead. By the time I got them, they were good and dead.  That was before Christmas and I was busy so they got put aside.  Since I already had a pot of alum water boiling, I wrapped the dried leaves and petals in silk.  I wasn't sure what I would get.  As you can see no clear leaf pattern but lots of color.



Both of the prints were done on white charmeuse silk.  I cut the silk 60 inches long and then split it down the middle to make two 60" x 22" scarves.  I wrapped the material with white thread before boiling it so that I would have matching thread to give the scarves a rolled hem.

6 comments:

  1. This process is intriguing...I am thinking about trying as an experiment but will probably wait for warmer weather...Silk is so magical. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

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  2. I like the details in purple. Bring for show and tell!

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  3. I was reading about dyeing using some pointsetta flowers and leaves over the holidays, now I have to go out and find one if they're still in the stores, and try it for myself. Love your results.

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  4. I love the resulting fabric. The patterns and colors are beautiful.

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  5. These are really nice pieces. Are you sure that poinsettia branch just broke off "accidentally?" You sounded pretty anxious to use it for dyeing!

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  6. The patterns turned out great. Have you ever tried the pounded flowers? This reminds me of those a bit.

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