Revisiting eco dyeing

This is my second exploration of eco dyeing. This time I tried continus (smoke bush) leaves as they seem to be popular for this method.  There are several of these bushes in the park near me so I didn't have to trek far for my raw materials.  These leaves are very fresh and green at the moment, but turn to a bright scarlet in the autumn - will definitely have to try them again later in the year.

I used Hahnemeuhle 265 gsm mixed media bamboo paper this time, soaking it with water before laying on the leaves and a few bits of onion skin, so it would be easier to tightly roll round my piece of plastic pipe and securely tie with string.  I also added a few rusty screws to the vinegar water and set it gently boil for just over an hour.

The cooked bundle was an alarming charcoal black when it came out of the water, but once dry there are some very subtle hints of pink, purple and blue/green, plus patches of orange from the onion skin.

The paler sample is from my first dyeing effort last month -
this was on thinner drawing paper

Eco dyeing experiment

 Over the winter months I have been looking into the possibilities of eco dyeing, both paper and fabric.  I have searched the internet for information, got hold of an old saucepan and with spring's new plant growth decided it was time to jump in and have a go.  Sue Brown's recent Instagram post was also instrumental in pushing me into action (#sundaypromptswithSue).

My bundle included two strips of cartridge paper, a couple of watercolour paper offcuts and a bit of lightly tea-stained calico.  On these I arranged bluebells, muscari (grape hyacinth)*, rose leaves, dandelions and ivy leaves.  A couple of tablespoons of distilled vinegar was added to the small saucepan of water, weighted down with a couple of big stones and set to boil gently for an hour.  I had forgotten to add either onion skins or any rusted elements to my bundle, so I just put these in the water as it came to the boil.

* On one site I visited the muscari was shown as producing a beautiful blue dye - I have a plentiful supply of this flower in my garden, but unfortunately they were really past their best.  The bluebells did give a slight hint of blue, but perhaps I need to limit the different colours of plants I use in one batch to get a stronger result.

A hint of blue muscari and pink from the young rose leaves

Dandelion flowers

Bluebells and muscari

The piece of fabric (at the top of this image)
came out much darker than the papers