Garden Spells, A Naturally Dyed Collection
I am currently at home nursing the tail end (I hope) of a migraine that started 24 hours ago. I don't get migraines too often, but when I do, they're whoppers. Anyhow, I spent a bit of this morning sitting out in the garden with my eyes closed, trying to meditate, but I kept seeing delicate black tendrils floating behind my eyelids and everything was turning bright fuchsia red. Still, a bit of sun is always reviving for me and there was a nice breeze. I picked some calendula and honeysuckle and set them out to dry for future bundle dyeing some silk scarves I just finished in a walnut and wattle dye bath.
It's been an entire year now since I started studying and practicing natural dyeing and I am having so much fun with it! It makes me feel like I'm a scientist/magician when I try little formulas to see if I can achieve a certain hue or color and so far, I've been pretty lucky and spot on!
My current dye repertoire is still fairly small, but I'd rather work with a few ingredients first and really see how they react (or don't react) before I add new colors and materials to work with.
This first naturally dyed collection, which I've dubbed Garden Spells, since most of this process has been done in my garden and like I said, I do feel a bit like I'm creating magic when I'm brewing pots and measuring out powders and liquids. I'm hoping, that is if my passion for natural dyeing continues, to build out a little dye station in the garden. Right now our small kitchen serves as my space to conduct my work and it doesn't have the best natural light, so I am always running my pots outside to see if the color is ok or how a color has shifted when I add a little bit of this or that.
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