Here’s a quick video of how I wrap and unwrap eco-print bundles. Unlike many eco-printers, I don’t wrap around a stick or other firm object. I prefer to just fold the bundle in on itself and then tie tightly. This creates a semi-flexible bundle that fits easily into the dyepot.
This piece was mordanted with iron and eco-printed with eucalyptus leaves. If you would like to see a full video of the process in real time, with each step explained, please check out my eco-printing ecourse, Living Colour. It is such a beautiful and delighting process and I love to teach it to students around the world.
When I first started eco-printing, I boiled my bundles for 3 hours. I got good results, so I kept doing this. But one day I noticed that after a short amount of boiling the leaves had already produced a lot of beautiful colour.
So I decided to take a more systematic approach to working out the optimal length of boiling. I made up a batch of small bundles using leaves from 3 different eucalyptus varieties on pieces of the same pre-mordanted cotton. I set them to boil, then removed them at 15 minute intervals.
I was suprised to see that there wasn’t much difference between the bundle that had been boiled for just 15 minutes (left), and the very last one which was left in for 1 hour and 45 minutes (right).
The colour of the leaves on the top sides did shift from brown to blue with longer boiling times, but the centre green and botton brown leaf prints didn’t really vary. The blue band on the right side print is from the piece of dowel that the bundles were wrapped around. This band got progressively darker and bled more the longer that each sample was boiled for, because wood has its own tannins.
Even though much of the dye has already emerged after 15 minutes, I do cook my bundles for longer, to ensure that the maximum amount of colour is transferred to the fabric and to really give it time to set. I find that about 1 hour is a good length of time when eco-printing on cotton. It’s enough time to get strong prints, while being mindful of energy use.
Following on from my recent post about combining shibori dyeing and eco-printing on wool, here are some similar effects achieved on cotton. I really enjoy combining organic eco-prints with geometric grids or lines from shibori dyeing methods.
This pattern was created by folding the tshirt up into a small bundle, adding liquidambar and Japanese maple leaves as I went. Then I tied it tightly with string and submerged it in a dye bath of eucalyptus bark and iron, cooking it for about 1 hour. The fabric was mordanted with homemade iron and alum mordants, following the instructions in my ebook, Gum Leaf Alchemy.
Here is a close up of a similar pattern, this time with eucalyptus leaves and an iron mordant. The large section of lines show which part of the tshirt ended up on the outside of the bundle, wrapped tightly with string. There are smaller sections of lines where other parts of the tshirt were also on the outside of the bundle, because of how it was folded.
This long-sleeved tshirt was also folded up, but into a smaller bundle which was pressed between two square pieces of hardwood. This helped to create a very even, geometric pattern to contrast with the organic shape of the leaf prints. This piece was also mordanted with iron and alum.
This piece of fabric was mordanted with iron, covered in rose leaves and folded into large squares. I pressed the fabric between 2 tiles, clipped the tiles together then submerged the bundle in a dye bath and cooked it.
If you would like to come back to this idea later, you can pin the below image.
I’ve had plenty of luck lately finding lovely second-hand woollens to dye. Although cotton is my favourite for eco-printing, it is always a nice treat to use wool for a change. It gives such different results, especially when using eucalyptus leaves.
My favourite method for eco-printing on wool is to fold up the garment into a square, adding leaves as I go. Here I have used eucalyptus leaves. Then I press the bundle between tiles or blocks of wood and tie it firmly to hold the leaves in places. For thin bundles, clamps or clips can also be used.
I submerge this bundle in a dye bath and cook it for 2-3 hours (longer than I would do for cotton).
When it has cooled down, I unwrap it to reveal bright orange prints where the leaves were touching the fabric, and dark patches where the edges of the bundle were exposed to the dye bath.
Sometimes the dye seeps into the bundle and surrounds the leaf prints. And lines are created wherever the string was pressing firmly into the fabric.
Here is one of the finished pieces. The shibori patches have dried quite light on this one and just add gentle areas of warm brown to contrast with the bright leaf prints.
This piece I folded up into very small squares and tied between two pieces of hardwood. The fabric was already dyed blue with synthethic dyes when I bought it.
You can see how well the eucalyptus leaves have printed over the synthetic dye, and the lines created from the folding method.
If you want to learn this technique with step-by-step instructions, I have an ecourse all about wool and shibori. It is suitable for complete beginners, or for anyone who wants to learn how to combine eco-printing and shibori techniques on wool.
Dyeing with avocado is a safe and simple process, perfect for beginners to natural dyeing. Both the seeds (also called stones or pits) and the skins contain colour. They produce a quite colourfast dye of the most unexpected and delightful pink.
The exact colour you get will be affected by which variety of avocado you use, the time of year, the pH of your water, and whether you use the seeds or the skins or both. For this tutorial I have used just the seeds. I collected them over a couple of months, washing them well and storing them in the freezer. This keeps the colour better than drying them out.
Materials
Avocado seeds or skin or a mix of both (well washed)
Cotton fabric prepared with soy milk binder, or wool/ silk
An aluminium or stainless steel dye pot (aluminium will provide a mild mordanting effect but is not necessary)
A long-handled spoon or stick for stirring
Loose weave fabric such as muslin for straining the dye
Preparing your fabric with soy milk binder
You can make your own soy milk by soaking soy beans in water and blending them, or you can dilute store bought soy milk. Soak fabric in the soy milk overnight, squeeze out and let it dry, then do a few rounds of quickly dipping it and letting it dry again, to build up layers of soy milk. If you’d like more in-depth instructions, check out my Leaf & Colour book.
Instructions for natural dyeing with avocado seeds
Step one
Cover the seeds in water and simmer gently for 1-2 hours. Turn the heat off and let the dye rest for several hours or, even better, overnight.
Step two
Break up the seeds to make more of the dyes available. This is best done while wearing gloves because the tannins can irritate your skin. If the seeds are too firm to break up, repeat step one first.
Step three
Re-heat the dye bath for another hour or so to let the colour develop further. Let it cool again, then strain through the loose weave fabric.
Step four
If you want to create a shibori effect, tie off sections of your fabric using rubber bands or string. For the top on the left, I tied off 3 sections to create 3 white lines. For the onesie on the right, I gathered fabric in the centre and wrapped it in rubber bands to create a circle pattern.
Step five
Bring the dye bath back to simmering, then add your fabric (pre-wet it so that it will absorb the dye evenly). Add extra water so there is enough space for the fabric to move freely. This will also help to create even colour. Let it cook on a very low heat for about one hour, stirring from time to time. Leave it to cool overnight, stirring occasionally. The colour will continue to develop as it sits.
Step six
When you are happy with the colour, remove the fabric from the dye pot. Keep in mind that the colour will lighten as the fabric dries.
Squeeze out the excess dye, and rinse well. Then remove the rubber bands to reveal the resist pattern.
Results
Depending on the avocados you used and the pH of your water, you should get lovely peach to pink tones on your fabric. Below you can see that my soy mordanted cotton came out an earthy pink, somewhat lighter once it dried but still a rich colour. I also added a piece of silk to the dye pot and it turned a more peachy tone. You can shift peach dyes to pink by altering the pH of your dyepot with a small amount of washing soda.
Pin the below image if you would like to come back to this tutorial later. And if you do try dyeing with avocado, let me know in the comments!
When doing natural dyeing or eco-printing on plant-based fibres such as cotton, you need to prepare the fabric with something to help the plant dyes adhere. This could be mordants such as metals and/or tannins. Or you could use a protein-rich binder such as soy milk, cow’s milk, eggs or even blood. These emulate the results that you will get dyeing protein fibres (wool, silk, leather).
For ethical reasons, I only use cow’s milk to prepare fabric when it would otherwise be going to waste. It doesn’t seem reasonable to buy it for this purpose when many people are starving and the dairy industry is horrific. But I have a friend who occasionally brings me bottles from their workplace that are close to their use-by date and were going to be thrown in the bin. Dumpster diving is also a good way to find wasted milk and put it to good use.
How to prepare fabric with cow’s milk
Materials
Scoured cotton, linen or other plant based fabric
A large pot or bucket
1 bottle of cow’s milk
Water
Step one: add water to your milk at a ratio of 1:1. Pre-wet your cotton fabric (so it will absorb evenly) and add it to the milk. There should be enough space for the fabric to move freely. Let it soak for about half a day, stirring occasionally. This is best done on a cold day or in a very shady spot or else the milk will quickly get smelly and this smell will remain in the fabric even after dyeing. I soak fabric for less time in cow’s milk than when using soy milk, because it does tend to go bad faster (especially when it is already close to the use-by date).
Step two: remove the fabric, squeeze out the excess milk and put it in your washing machine on a spin cycle. Then hang to dry. Putting it on a spin cycle means that there won’t be milk dripping down the side of the fabric as it dries, which would show up as streaks when you dye it.
Step three: if your milk is still good, add the fabric back in just until it is saturated, then remove and put through the spin cycle and dry again. Do this process twice. Adding extra layers strengthens the binder, and it is done in quick dips so that the previously adhered milk won’t have time to come off. These extra steps can be omitted if your milk bucket is getting too smelly- you will still get good results from one round of soaking.
Step four: once your fabric is dry, leave it to cure for at least a week before dyeing it. Again, this strengthens the binder and helps it adhere strongly to the fabric. Then dye or eco-print with it as desired.
The difference between protein binders and metal mordants
This picture illustrates the difference between protein binders and metal mordants. The top piece of cotton was prepared with cow’s milk. The bottom piece was mordanted with iron. Both pieces were eco-printed with the same species of eucalyptus leaves. On the milk binder, the leaves have printed a bright reddish-orange. This is similar to the results these leaves give on silk and wool, which is unsurprising because protein binders make plant fibres dye similarly to protein fibres. On the iron mordant, the leaves have printed olive-green and have some speckles and vein details. I find that iron mordants are great for bringing out details, while protein binders give flatter results but sometimes more vivid colours.
I hope this has been useful for you and gives you a way to make use of milk that would otherwise go to waste. Feel free to pin the image below to return to this information later.
Drawing over the top of eco-printed paper is a lovely project to do with all the samples that accumulate. It can be a meditative process, and can also inspire new ways of drawing. Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, the natural shapes and colours already present make it easy to be inspired.
The photo below shows symmetrical paper eco-prints that I created by sandwiching plant matter between two pieces of paper and wrapping them around a rusty tin, before heating in water. You can see how adding simple line drawings with a black fineliner can create a very striking and organic artwork out of what was quite a subdued print.
Ideas for mark-making
If you have some eco-printed paper that you want to try drawing over but don’t know where to start, here are some ideas.
Begin by drawing outlines around each leaf, then let your thinking mind relax so your subconscious can take over. As you daydream, experiment with different types of lines and marks on different parts of the paper. For example:
squiggly lines
dots
light feathery lines
dark bold lines
Keep some areas simple and build others up to create contrast and detail.
If you want help learning how to eco-print on paper so that you can try out these drawings, I have in-depth instructions in my Plant Poetry ebook.
Let me know below if you have tried drawing over your eco-printed paper, or whether this post has inspired you to give it a try.
I have been continuing to experiment with shibori and eco-print combinations. This coat was made with some of the precious eucalyptus leaves I gathered in Broken Hill. Their gum blossoms make the most incredible prints. The dark shibori-style patches were made with eucalyptus bark plus iron placed in the dye pot, which only the exposed parts of the bundle took up.
I get asked often if the method I shared in my first eco-printing ebook, Gum Leaf Alchemy, will also work with other types of leaves beyond eucalyptus. I have spent many months experimenting with every leaf I could get my hands on, and now I can say for sure that yes it will! Most of the leaves I tested produced some kind of mark, though some were definitely better than others. I have collated some of the best and most interesting results into a new ebook, The Leaf Guide.
This ebook covers 25 plants that eco-print well on cotton. For each plant there is a photograph of the leaves and any other distinguishing features such as flowers or seed pods, as well as samples of the eco-prints they produce.
Grevillea (above) and maple (below) are some of my favourites prints in the ebook. They give such strong and distinctive results.
There are also examples of different pieces of clothing and fabric dyed with mixed leaves, and information about using fresh, dried and soaked leaves.
If you find eco-printing on cotton difficult, or want to expand your repetoire beyond eucalyptus leaves, this ebook will help you. It can be purchased here.
Combining shibori and eco-printing methods can create dynamic designs that have both structured and organic elements. To create this design, I used woollen thermal garments, eucalyptus leaves, wooden boards and string.
The eucalyptus leaves were placed onto wool, which was then folded up using a simple shibori accordion fold. The garments were pressed between the wood boards and tied tightly to hold the shape. Then these bundles were boiled in water for about 2 hours. I added eucalyptus leaves and iron to the water, to dye the exposed bits of fabric.
Here you can see how the exposed wool has picked up dark colours from the dyebath, while the wood has masked the inner bits of fabric. This creates strong contrast against the leaf prints.
Beginning to unwrap…
This is the back of the final design. I love how this way of folding creates many lines of symmetry, and some bits of the fabric get more exposed to the dyebath than others.
This piece I folded up into very small squares and tied between two pieces of hardwood. The fabric was already dyed blue with synthethic dyes when I bought it.
