January 2019

We finally have some natural plant dyeing action!  

Although I should point out that, while there's not always physical stuff to show each month, there's definitely more knowledge being gained from research.

This time I did everything by the book, including scouring the fabric and then mordanting the fabric.  This time I was taking no chances!

This horrible gooey mess is gently steaming Vaccinium myrtillus - more commonly known as  blueberries!   The blueberries needed crushing in the bottom of the pan before adding the water and then bringing to boiling point before simmering.   After all that was done - oh the smell! - I just needed to cool it a bit to get all the fruit out of the pan - I wasn't completely successful with removing all the pith, but it brushed off the finished silk scarves when dry.

And then the magic started to happen once the silk was in the pan and gently simmered.

I knew that blueberries give a grey colour - but had no idea it would be this beautiful shimmering silver grey.  I love it!

So, all that was left then was to leave this to dry naturally and then stick it through the washing machine a few days later to ensure that the colour was fast - it was!   The second colour has now gone on top of this and I'll show the results in February's post.  It's so exciting - it's completely magic!