Bundle dyeing: backyard plants
Dye Experiment Materials:
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Japanese maple leaves
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hydrangea flowers
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euonymus leaves
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rose of sharon leaves and buds
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(pre-washed) silk and wool fabric (1 yard minimum each)
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iron liquor
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pot (not used for cooking)
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sturdy sticks/wooden dowel or pvc pipe (need to be longer than your pot's opening)
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mallet
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uncolored twine or string
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tin foil
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*I collected my material in late October so season may affect plants' coloring




Left to right: wool, silk, wool and iron liquor, silk and iron liquor
Fabric preparation:
Silk Habotai
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Add 1gal and 2 cups of water to pot.
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Mix 2tsp of alum with 1/4 cup of hot water.
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Bring pot to boil and add silk fabric.
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Simmer pot for one hour.
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Leave overnight to cool down. (I left my fabric to soak for 16 hours.)
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Rinse fabric under water.
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Wool
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Add 1/2gal and 2 cups of water to a pot.
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Bring pot to boil.
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Mix 1.5tsp of alum to 1/4cups of hot water.
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Add alum mixture to pot.
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Add wool fabric.
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Simmer pot for one hour.
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Let pot cool down.
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Rinse fabric under water.
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Bundle process:
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Harvest/gather the plants you want (always gather more than you need). (I used these materials the day of harvesting as it's hard to keep such a huge amount of plants alive.)
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Lay out fabric on top of tarp or dropcloth.
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Place leaves or plants where you want them to make impact.*​​
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Pound plants into fabric.
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Fold fabric in half (may have to fold again if the fabric is too long for the stick).
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Roll fabric onto stick.
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Wrap twine around cloth to secure fabric bundle to stick.
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Fill pot halfway with water and bring to boil.
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Once water is steaming, place bundles over steaming water.**
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Place tin foil over bundles/opening of pot to keep steam in.
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Leave bundles over pot for one hour, rotating the bundles every half hour.
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Let pot cool down and leave the bundles over the pot.
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Leave bundles overnight to absorb color.
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Unravel bundles and rinse fabric under warm water to clean the fabric of plant matter. (I recommend getting a giant trashbag to remove the majority of the plant matter from your fabric.)
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Leave out to dry.
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*For iron liquor version dip plants into solution before placing onto fabric.
**I steamed to bundles at a time but I would recommend steaming one at a time or two that doesn't have the iron liquor because if the bundles touch each other, the iron liquor will affect the bundle not using the iron liquor.
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dropcloth results

harvesting results


plant layout on fabric

bundles after being steamed