Eight of us decamped to my house for a morning of learning about natural dyeing which Helen kindly offered to lead us through. We started with coffee and cake but had to crack on with the processes as the dye baths can take some time. I was delighted when Julia made it to join us too, all the way from Shrewsbury, she had brought along some of her investigations into Apples – quite wonderful paintings. Some of the group were less interested in dyeing fabric, preferring to stitch, but were happy to come along anyway.
Before the session Helen and I had pre mordanted fabric, I had some done with alum and some with soya milk and Helen had some with soya milk. I learnt that this process takes time, the slower the better, and that the soya milk is an inexpensive and environmentally friendly option. It also makes your hands feel smooth! I followed the instructions from Rebecca Desnos’s book that Helen had recommended.
While we waited for the dyebaths to work, we discussed out investigations. Maggie P told a story of how she had cycled to Ella Mary Leather’s place of birth at Bidney but then gotten a puncture so ended up walking to Dilwyn. She then realised she was doing the walk that Ella must have done until she left home and married at age 19 and moved to Weobley. Maggie then found great inspiration in Dilwyn Church. Here are some photos of Ann’s and Julia’s work in progress.
Dye bath results five days later
I experimented with modifying some of the fabric and thread colours using a wood ash lye and a few with some iron water. The wood ash lye immediately deepened the colours, a true alchemic process! The iron water was only a week old so perhaps needed to be developed for a bit longer, but it still had some effect.
The Stitched Atlas 