Firstly the buddleja dye bath. I have talked about this dye bath before and also in this post too – it is one of my most familiar, favourite dyes to brew. It is so consistent in colour, and the scent is heady and fragrant. Today I once again stood still and watched a hummingbird hawk moth on one of the bushes in the garden. I use the flowers either fresh or spent – it seems both react equally well, though I haven’t ever left them stored for long, but have made up a bath once they have finished flowering (especially if I feel they are needed fresh for foraging insects).
I used oak gall powder as a mordant and the experiments gave me a deeper golden yellow – not quite as bright as using a little alum. I had some in my box of cloth from last year so I could do a little mix and match for tones.
I try to keep a journal of samples to refer to, but often the magic of the process and the unexpected happenings are the joy of it all!
To save energy I leave my dye baths and cloth and don’t usually re-heat them and find the cold water works beautifully too..
The INDIGO… so now into the blues…
This is the one I don’t yet grow myself – one day maybe, another time.
Stock solution brewing – the mother tincture
The indigo flower and filmy copper
And now – out in the hot summer sunshine begins the dipping process which took days of slow rhythmic repetition – layering the blues, watching them dry lighter, dipping repeatedly to gain the range of tones. It was a long dry hot month and I drifted into day after day of working. I dripped blues onto my skin, my clothes, the kitchen floor, the outdoor stone…
Much thought about energy and water went into each day. The heat of the sun helped me as I didn’t reheat my vats but the warmth was enough and I decided to keep reusing water baths and not use more. It does show on the final work – it is deeply layered, I didn’t keep rinsing and so my hands are shaded with blue when I work with the cloth but that is fine…
As the cloth rested and cured I watched the night sky and decided what I achieved worked. Sometimes I left pieces out in the moonlight and let them dance and watch the stars…
susibancroft 