Red Onion Solar Dyeing

Last year I was very interested in exploring solar dyeing techniques using natural dyes. Solar dyeing, as you can probably guess from the name, uses the sun to assist in the dye process, instead of energy wasting techniques that involve boiling the dye. One of the down sides however, is that it takes many months and therefore patience.

I had actually forgotten about this project, hence why I left it for so long with out looking at it. The jar had been sitting outside for 6 months before I came across it while doing some gardening. It contained red onion and a silk scarf I was wishing to colour. Over the six months the onionskins had dissolved completely, making the water a soft ruby colour. This is what the scarf looked like when I took it out:

I have rewrapped the scarf so that other areas of it are exposed and can absorb some of the dye. I may need to add some more onionskins for a stronger colour. I will leave it until I stumble across it again in a few months. As you can see this is a long process, but I think it will be totally worth it.

Arimatsu Shibori: 400 years of history!

from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg-udpb8aRQ&feature=related

from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t66HFQcRsv4&feature=related

Next holiday destination: Arimatsu, anyone?
http://shiboriorg.wordpress.com/projects/slow-fiber/sfs-arimatsu-japan-2010/
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/attractions/facilities/traditional_handicrafts/83dn3a000000elcb.html
http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/aichi/arimatsu.html
http://www.shibori-kaikan.com/kaikan-e.html

Amazing Shibori Video

anyone able to translate this?

it's saddening how these handcrafting skills are probably dying out; the experts are all in their 80s or 90s. Is there a new generation to take over?

dyeing old garments

(Image from http://www.apringz.com/)

We all have a few pieces of white clothing that we have stained, right? They are still perfectly wearable, apart from the horrendous stain down the front from the sloppy pasta dish a few nights before. Or in my case any meal that requires even the slightest coordination to get from the bowl to my mouth. So if you are like me (an uncoordinated slob when eating), I’m sure you have a few garments that you haven’t been able to remove a stain from.

Instead of throwing these garments away, give them a new life and aesthetic. Here is an example of two garments that I have done just that for. If you don’t like the ‘tie dye’ look, then there are many other looks you can go for… just give it a go.

All you need is a bucket, and dye material. In this case I used eucalyptus (yes, I’m obsessed) with iron filling as a mordant. This only worked because the tops are cotton. If you have a garment made from synthetic fibres that you want to dye then look into commercial synthetic dyes. I recommend gloves as my nails are now black. I left these tops in the dye bath for around a week. See the results for your self!!

Natural dye colours

This is a great link if you want to work out the colours you can get from different plant dyes. It’s also shows what sort of plants can be used.

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/naturaldyes.html

Under the Gum Trees

Last year I tried to explore solar dyeing, with limited success. I really liked the results however they were not at all what I expected. This year I want to go back and explore the use of solar dyeing further and be able to achieve prints rather than a consistent colour across fabric. These photos are from my 2010 collection entitled "Under the Gum Trees". The collection features fabrics that have been solar dyed for up to 9 weeks with eucalyptus.

For those of you unfamiliar with solar dyeing I will do my best to explain it. Essentially it involves using the heat of the sun to transfer dye from natural materials (in this case eucalyptus) from the material to cloth.

This means you don't have to spend endless hours and energy boiling material and can use the sun to do all your hard work. However you need time and patience. Solar dying takes many weeks and is a slow process.

I used silk fabric, bundled it with gum leaves (of many varieties, gathered from fallen branches), and put the fabric in large glass jars with a small amount of water. The jars then must be sealed to prevent air from allowing bacteria to grow. These jars are then left for at least 6 weeks in the sun.

See my results for yourself!! I will upload more of my work from last year showing the process soon.

Model:Sarah Ranken

Photographer: Jessica Maybus

TO DIE FOR DYE???

For the last year I have been exploring the use of natural dyes. What have I learnt so far on this journey you may ask... I would have to say the answer would be that nothing is predictable. One dye bath produces one result while a similar dye bath produces something totally different. I will be using this blog to document my discoveries and hopefully convince a few of you out there to give natural dyes a go. Dying your own clothes can be really fun especially when you pull your garment/fabric out of a dye bath and see the final results.