Leafing into Spring: Part I

I have to start by saying a big thank you to my friends Arlee Barr and Jude Hill for plugging my blogs and my new adventure over at A Common Thread . Also to everyone who has already joined me there. Welcome! And don't forget to tell all of your friends :}

And... sheeeeeeeeeeee's off! A new idea. But this is all you're getting right now, because I have to get on with it... a sneak peak of what's on the work table today. I am busy busy here!



















Leafing Into Spring

Before I go... remember folks... there's very little that a serving spoon of Nutella can't fix! ;}



















Nilo. That's one happy child!

Being koi

Following on from this...

The Gavilana dyed cloth is in off of the line and ironed on a very hot setting.















First try at capturing the color results: The camera is reading off of the wood of my work table so the cloth is looking more muted in this shot than it actually is in real life.



















Second try to capture color results: I placed all of the cloth in a stack on a piece of white notebook paper to see if I could get the camera to read the color of the cloth on balance with the white of the paper. This image is more accurate. I'm going to have to come up with a good descriptive name for this dye, because the actual color rang is somewhere between tan, seaweed, moss, and goldenrod.

SHHHhhhh....Don't tell anyone, but I quite like it now ;]















Trying to stitch a Japenese koi fish into the shashiko-style pond. This is what I've managed after three earlier attempts. Still misssing fins and tail and watery swirls. Now I have to make lunch. But after that I'm going to move onto something else!

Natural Dyes: Gavilana

Yesterday, I did a short post(!) on experimenting using the leaves of the native plant "Gavilana", Neurolaena lobata (Asteraceae), and I wasn't very pleased with the color while it was in the pot. I left the whole lot stewing over night with the intention of putting it out in the sun for a few days. But I decided I'd go ahead and rinse the cloths this morning. So now I can share my results with you.















What's on line this morning.















Cotton weave and cotton and hemp cloth















Synthetic and peachskin cotton mix (?) and unbleached cotton.















Silk weave. Tie-dyed.















Damask type cotton (from an thrifted pillow case slip) with shibori effects.















Unbleached cotton and damask type cotton (from an thrifted pillow case slip) with shibori effect.

Ok, so I admit it, you were right! It was successful. Mostly! But your golden yellows have a fair hint of sea algae-green to them. I would like to find a way to moderate that and bring up the bluer tones. But it definately works! So, given the ease with which this plant grows here, I'd say we're in business ;}

Last night I stitched some more on this.















A shashiko-syled pond patch, stitched with 2 strands of cream colored DCM thread, on upcycled denim. Part of my next bag-ular creation.

BEHOLD! I have made SLIME... again!

This post is a follow on from Arlee Barr's recent post wittily entitled "BEHOLD! i have made mud! or snow dyeing part two, the results".

For quite a while I have been thinking to try an experiment dying cloth with the leaves of the plant locally known as "Gavilana", Neurolaena lobata (Asteraceae). This plant has several medicinal properties and is used locally to treat a range of ailments, including for "cleaning the blood" (whatever that's supposed to mean!) and as a deparisitite-er (sorry, don't remember the word for that in English). The latin name would also suggest some medical linkage, no?

Anyway, for some reason, I got it into my head that these leaves might be high in tanins and therefore good for dying with. The plant grows like the plague all over our property, as a weedy herb that reaches up to nearly 3 meters. So, wouldn't it be good if I could actually use it for something? So that's what I've been up to for part of the morning.



















"Gavilana" - Neurolaena lobata (Asteraceae)















In the pot, bringing it all to the boil. I decided to start it off with a fair amount of heat, before placing it out in the sun for a few days.















And so far, it's looking like this! YUCK!!!! It looks like cow poop! But, ok, definately works as a dye! Maybe this would be something to add to another dye to get a nicer color?... Or, maybe I should just forget the whole thing? ;}