The cars were parked, arms laden with dye pots and rounding the side of the house at Ludd Valley the smell of smoke fringed the air. The dye day getaway was well under way. The autumn’s breeze chilled the patches out of the sun. Fallen leaves were plentiful resource splayed on the ground. Judy and Jo already immersed in bundling and wrapping. Jo, with her beautiful silk and Judy her current favourite merino knit fabric.
The fire pit smoldered and held the pots at a simmer. Honesty, herbs, onion and garlic skins were some of the brews. It was a beautiful day for being in the garden, later we used the conveniently fresh pruned rose leaves in a dye pot.
There were a few helpful and pleasant additions to the dye day. Helen brought her daughter Morin. Felicity brought double trouble collies called Mollie and May.
In the garden Morin and Felicity collected plant matter to capture Morin’s first wander full walk. She used the plants sandwiched between a piece of silk and a piece of wool fabric.
It was a magical moment to see the excitement of one’s FIRST unwrapping. It was a reward for all as we all remember our first time. The result was subtle colours contrasted with bright orange veins from the onionskins rubbed from Judy’s own grown onions. This could turn into a delicious scarf as we move into the colder months.
Mollie was a keen helper and wanted to be a part of all the activity, even went as far as to sneak biscuits at afternoon tea to be part of the social scene.
Judy had some lengths of fabric she had dyed and achieved magical eucalyptus eco prints. She had arranged the leaves on the surface but these were dislodged in the folding process, the result was still a gorgeous piece of silk.
Maria and Pam popped in for cuppas and conversation.
We discussed folding techniques and then to what do we do with all of the amazing fabrics we dye. We all agreed that making a larger portion of your wardrobes is a shared goal.
Thank you ladies for another great day amongst the magic we share. The scarf I wore still slightly smells of smoke. The memories that can be captured in cloth bring me to smile.
our project for day 1 was to create a skirt out of an old jumper/sweater/jersey and then eco print it - so after "bundling" our skirts, into the dye pot they went and ..........................
we all had a surprise parcel to open first thing in the morning......... "oh, just like Christmas!"
some rather larger than others .....
and some weren't made out of old sweaters, but never mind..............
how beautiful were the results.....
so after much mutual admiration it was on to our next project............. to make a wrap skirt out of an old shirt...............
with India showing us how!
A piece brewed up in that ended up as one of Jo's exhibits in the Fibre Spectrum show, a pot with wattle leaves and flowers and another with Kophai seed pods - all things we hadn't had a chance to use before given that this was our first sprig dye up! The most popular brew of the day was the rich onion "soup" with everyone cramming just one more piece in - the poor pot was in bursting at the seams. Felicity had great results with a cape in there - hopefully we will see it on the catwalk as part of her end of year offerings for her NMIT course.Judy supplied some wondrous moments with her bubble machine - much to the delight of all of us, not just the children and much fun was had by all. Can't wait for the next get together which will be at Sue's on Saturday 31 October.
