The Group was well supported once again this year. We have a core of regular participants as well as visitors who come while they are in Melbourne and a group that would love to come more often but sadly have to work. The group that participates through the internet has continued to grow and is sharing their results via photos of their successes. The Dye section on the web page has also acted as a resource for non members of the Guild who visit our web page through interest in our activities.
Helen Keefe's Basket of Dyed Yarns
One such visitor was Brian
McCarthy who saw Monnie’s Method for dyeing with Lichen. He contacted me for further information and did some experimenting himself. You can read about his experiences here <- click here -> Another was Pat McArthur <- click here ->
2009 saw varied results from the plants we used as our dye sources. Easter egg dyeing was fun. We got a range of yellows from Onion Skins, Wattle, Oxalis and Native Cherry; Walnut Shells gave us some rich browns; we still couldn’t achieve the beautiful aubergine from the Passionfruit Skins; Eucalyptus crenulata didn’t deliver on the rich reds and the Dandelion Roots were a bit of a disaster but then we had Indigo to overdye all the disappointments to give beautiful shades of green as well as the beautiful blues it is famous for.
Examples of Indigo Shibori
We also discovered that by changing some dye liquid to alkaline by adding either washing soda, ammonia or bicarbonate of soda we often turned the beige to green as happened with the Passion fruit skin skeins.
One of our regular members, Tatiana, became addicted to solar dyeing and got beautiful colours from a range of plants by putting the foliage into jars with water with a bit of fleece, or a small skein of fibre, and exposing them to the sun to let it work its magic. I tried this with passion fruit skins on alum/tannin/alum mordanted cotton, with a little tin and vinegar added, and managed to achieve a magnificent purple and a nice green when I changed the ph by adding Bicarbonate of Soda.
I have also being doing lots of samples with Indigofera Australis and am amazed at the range of colours that can be obtained from this one plant over the year using a variety of methods to capture them. (See reference material)
The group was supplied some of the featured fleece – Poll Dorset - for the Sheep and Wool Show Display. It dyed beautifully and I believe their committee was pleased with our contributions.
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Robyn Heywood: Ancient colours in Poll Worth |
Helen's crocheted bag in Poll Dorset |
A new book out by Jenny Dean (author of Wild Colour) “Colours from Nature” [Search Press] contains information on natural mordants and how to make your own mordants rather than buying the chemicals. This book was available from the Craft outlet at the Guild for $27.05 but it sold out very quickly. Mary may get some more in if requested.
We welcome new dyers to join us at the Guild on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 10.00am or by joining the Web Group. The only prerequisite is to be a member of The Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria Inc. For further enquiries contact me Robyn Heywood at rrheywood@netspace.net.au or ring the Guild during office hours on 9347 3008
More information is available on Indigofera Australis by clicking here.
More information is available on Madder by clicking here.
For information on alternatives to Madder click here.
For information on dyeing with Elderberries click here.
For information on dyeing with Lichen click here.
Handweavers & Spinners Guild of Victoria
