Natural Dye Samples

I really love old textile sample books.  

There is a book I've seen somewhere which came from a Victorian textile factory, swatching dye colours with formulae handwritten alongside each sample.  There are lots of these on Pinterest though I can't find the exact one that I have in mind.  

It's kind of like this one  New York Swatch  but a bit more technical.

Anyway,  here's some of my little natural dye swatch book that I've been adding to over the summer.

 

It's been like an alchemnist's laboratory in my studio, all steam and bits of bark! 

These are all variations in colour using logwood dye with various mordants and modifiers.
 

The same on silk - Some knockout colours                                                                                                    
                                          

More dusky colours with Copper.
                          

                                                                        And so many dyestuffs still to be tested!

 

I used Jenny Dean's recipe in her book -  Wild Colour, which I can't reccommend highly enough.

Indigo Summer

Several times over the years, I've dipped into Indigo vats made by friends and tutors and one summer I even made a vat in the garden.  I've been promising myself I'd do that again and each summer since then seems to slip by without the lovely blues that are indigo. (that is indigo??)

 

Well, this has been the year of no excuses!  No holiday club bookings, in fact, no holiday.

So I finally did my vat.  In fact I did several.   I tried the 123 fermentation method,  I tried the ferrous ferment and I tried the quick and easy prereduced indigo and spectralite.  I loved them all! 

 

 

 

 Now, I have  great stock of blues to see me through a winter of stitching!

 

Stapleford School Banners

In our 'new normal' it's difficult to remember that not so long ago we were able to do projects like this. Nowadays I get antsy if I see people standing too close in a movie, let alone across a table, screen printing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In the spring term, I worked one to one with every child at Stapleford Community Primary School to print these banners for the school hall. The final project went up just a few days before we went into lockdown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was another brilliant project organised by Leslie Morgan, Arts Development Officer for Sawston and Bottisham Schools area and generously funded by Arts Society South Cambs. Polly Bodmer who is the Young Arts representative of the society was a very hard working volunteer, right hand woman and general creative consultant. 

 

Thank you, fabulous Polly!!!