Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Local Plants

I promised myself to try to dye some fabric using local plants while I was on holiday in the south of Italy.


I did some research on the internet about using eucalyptus leaves.


I did the right steps.

Collect the rain water.


Collect the leaves.

Some dried and some fresh, just to see what would happen.

Prepare the pot.


Cut up the fabric.

I had a perfect white, cotton dress
that I didn't wear anymore.
Boil 1hour and 15 minutes.


Sadly, it didn't go well...but the kitchen smelled nice.

Trouble shooting:
maybe needed more leaves,
maybe the plant wasn't the correct variety.

It was fun trying.



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3 comments:

  1. ClareAugust 28, 2015 at 12:03 PM

    did you add Alum as a mordant ?

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  2. Kim in NDAugust 30, 2015 at 3:08 PM

    This is easier with silk or wool. Clare is right, you have to mordant the cotton, preferably BEFORE dyeing. Aluminum acetate is best.

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  3. Sandra RefordAugust 31, 2015 at 2:24 PM

    Thank you Clare and Kim for your comments. I read on-line that eucalyptus leaves self mordant which is one of the reasons I wanted to try them. I will try again next summer with more of a leaf to water ratio and I will bring some alum from home.

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