I was trying to make an eco-dyed silk scarf in blue / grey tones to go with my blue leather journal, blue eco-dyed scarf and knitted blue / grey fingerless gloves. I've got a thing for matching my stationery to my accessories at the moment.

I gathered some leaves from native trees and then soaked them in water with a splash of rusty nail infused vinegar (mmm, sounds so tasty doesn't it?). I got impatient and only left them in the bucket for a couple of days.

Rashly I decided to dye all there of the silk scarves I had left for dyeing. I was feeling bold and confident. What could possibly go wrong?

I put them in a stainless steel pot with some more iron water. I boiled them for a few hours then left them outside in the pot to mature.

Finally I took them out and unbundled them. And ALL the scarves had been dyed beautiful shades of brown / red / pink.

Oops!