Bundles Unveiled

I finally unwrapped the bundles. Mostly the results are pale, except for this one piece of cotton wrapped and steamed with Liquid Amber leaves:



It wasn't even a real piece. I was just using the cotton to wrap this handwoven piece, and the handwoven piece didn't turn out as well:



Go figure. I don't know why the other Liquid Amber pieces are more pale. Could it be that the handwoven piece provided more cushioning and a tighter wrap than an ordinary piece of fabric? Back to the drawing board!

Waiting

Patience is not my strong suit, and it makes me crazy that I can't open up these steamed bundles and take a peek at what's going on inside. It's another week, at least, before I can unwrap them.



From left to right, they are brown onion skins and purple onion skins on soy painted linen, Liquid Amber leaves, eucalyptus leaves, Liquid Amber leaves, fennel leaves, and Liquid Amber leaves on linen dyed with pomegranate rind.

Untied Caps

I untied the eucalyptus seed pod caps and the rusty bottle caps today, and the results are below:






I also did another steamed piece yesterday, and unwrapped it this morning. The purple is dead and dried daylily flowers, and the brown strips are eucalyptus bark.



The piece below is purple and brown onion skins.



I'm starting to get a feel for this!

Steamed Caps

Here are the eucalyptus seed caps and the metal bottle caps after being steamed and sitting for a day. Not quite ready to be untied and opened yet.



The edges of the metal bottle cap fabric were dipped in pomegranate dye, giving the gold color.

Tied Caps

This is eucalyptus seed caps tied up in cotton and ready for steaming. Then they have to sit for a while before I can untie the bundle and see what it looks like.



The grouping below is metal bottle caps tied up in linen and waiting to rust.

Kakishibui Shibori

Here's the eucalyptus leaf print with kakishibui shibori on top. It's still more subtle than I would like. I'm working on bringing out the colors more.

Better Eco Prints

I'm getting better at the eco prints. The first two were steamed -- eucalyptus, and liquid amber leaves -- and left to sit for a week.






The bottom print is eucalyptus leaves rolled up, left to sit for a week, and kept moist -- no steaming. The dark edges are eucalyptus dye boiled in an iron pot, which makes it a dark brown.



I'm in the process of doing a second layer on these pieces using kakishibui (unripe persimmon dye) and copper in vinegar.

Rust Dyeing

These stars were created with rusty metal stars from a windchime my mom had. I folded wet canvas around the rusty stars and let it sit for two days. Kind of interesting, huh?