COLOURS OF AUSTRALIA | home
Studio
In November 2008 I moved into a temporary
studio space to get our hand dyeing on the way.
This space is located in a new building (still under construction)
next to our felt making facility. (in Nepal).
We are building a purpose designed dye workshop
early next year.
Basic, but workable!
The natural dye process is as follows:
The dye stuff gets prepared by soaking first, then simmering for
about an hour, depending on the plant material.
We're using Marigold flowers, Cutch and Lacca
while investigating more options to get a wider colour range.
Our aim is to use locally available plant materials
as we intend to keep the process as environmentally friendly
as we can.
After the simmering process the dye is strained thru cotton fabric to
remove any bits that might stick to the wool and fabric.
Rai-Bai straining the simmered dye stuff.
The fabric/wool to be dyed has been soaked overnight in plain water.
The material is prepared to accept the colour by simmering
in a mordant such as alum. This will give it colour fastness,
although, over time, all dye colours will fade .
The material is then added to the strained dye bath and
again simmered for 30-60 minutes, depending
on the dye and material.
The yellow colours is from Marigolds, the pink from Lacca.
When cooled down the fabric/wool is washed then rinsed
in clean water with a little vinegar added to restore the ph. level.
The level of human involvement is very high
and it is nearly impossible to achieve even dyeing.
We take pride in the mottled look though, as this gives the
garment character not achievable with chemical dyes.
(We do use chemical dyes too as certain colours are not
possible with natural dyes. All our garments are clearly labeled.)
Before dyeing, some pieces are stitched in the Japanese Shibori
technique. The stitches are pulled up tight, after dyeing the thread is pulled
out of the fabric, leaving a pattern where it has resisted the dye penetration.
Some stitched-ready to dye pieces are visible in the bottom right corner.
Dyed wool is hand rolled before being re-rolled into a proper 'ball' by
using a small machine.
My first batch of Marigold dyed wool proudly displayed in my
bedroom windowsill, as I love looking at it!
(I know, I'm a child.....)
I love the whole process, from selecting and preparing the fabrics, to making the dyes,
to preparing the baths, to the actual dyeing and seeing the colours appear on the
fabric/wool, to making the garments.
As a textile artist I specialised in dyeing and hand painting fabrics nearly 20 years ago
and to be able to get back to this practice is a great pleasure in my life!