I'm sure it will come as no surprise to learn I took along my pots, rusty bits of metal, leaves and scarves to the Wild By Nature Village Camp last week for a spot of eco dyeing! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to dye outdoors with a group of... Read more →
Foraging
You just never know when a new craft obsession is going to come striding in and sweep you off your feet. The beginning of this craft was inauspicious to say the least and gave no indication of the mania currently gripping me. I must weave! Basket weaving arrived unannounced in... Read more →
I started the new year in the best way possible. Camping on a gorgeous bush block on the south coast of New South Wales with delightful friends and eco dyeing using plants straight from the bush. I managed to score a couple of old horse shoes at a local market.... Read more →
Before I whizzed off the the Village Continuum festival I did a quick spot of eco-dyeing. I somehow managed to squeeze it in between the packing and prepping for my leather craft workshop. (Surprised? Nah, I'm sure you're not :) My original plan had been to make a shirt I... Read more →
I was so happy to get back to the Darebin Parklands recently so that I could forage eucalyptus leaves for natural dyeing. When I was last there, I'd seen some gorgeous gum leaves on the ground that were all mottled and multi-coloured. I'm not sure why they drop from the... Read more →
I just can't stop eco dyeing. I'm hooked on the alchemy of turning raw plant materials that I have foraged from nature into dyed pieces of paper or fabric. Gathering the raw materials makes me so happy. My hands love the feeling of plants and my soul loves being outdoors... Read more →
I got seduced by a photo of camellias in brine on @littleshiningforest's Instagram feed. They looked so fabulous sitting in their bowl of camellia goodness that I just had to give it a try. Luckily camellias are blossoming all around my neighbourhood at the moment. Armed with a few tips... Read more →
Plants are magic and so are their leaves. Here's some leaf magic I learnt recently that will help you to get leaf prints on your fabric when you're eco-dyeing. Leaves have two very different sides. The side facing the sun tends to be waxy to protect the leaf from the... Read more →
I have a very strong visual sense of how things should look and I love to plan. Put both of these traits together and you've got someone who's not very good with surprises. This can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to eco-dyeing as there are so... Read more →
The last official day for winter according to the European calendar* was gorgeous. The sun was shining down and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Walking through the Darebin Parklands everything looked shiny and new. There was excitement in the air with swallows swooping joyfully over the lake, a... Read more →