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 →

I'm deep in the middle of a natural dyeing craze. It's an obsession that has swept in and taken me over. Combining foraging in nature with dyeing wool in a rainbow of colours brings me so much joy. My latest dyeing adventure saw me gathering wattle blossoms which are so... Read more →

Combining hobbies is a passion of mine. Dyeing wool with flowers from the weed known as sour grass or oxalis happily combines nature, foraging, dyeing and eventually knitting or crochet. There's something so satisfying about delving deeper into the process of making and creating your own unique materials to craft... Read more →

I'm so lucky to be learning how to light fires with a hand drill and a tinder bundle made of foraged kangaroo grass seeds, dry grasses and twigs. It's magic of a very special kind with everyone gathered around, intent on the hand drill, willing the dust to get hot... Read more →