River nuno felted samples

experiments in the greenhouse

plants in flower right now, ready for experimenting in the slow textile studia greenhouse...

fuschia and calendula

calendula

golden rod

greenhouse tidied with space made for experiments.

Silk dyed with onion 'a la India'

I had a eureka moment - it works (o yee of little faith i hear you whisper).  Almost three months ago I set up a bowl of onion skins steeping in water in my greenhouse.  Then I added a small piece of silk wrapped around a stone.

The onions turned the water black/brown and kind of slimy but not mouldy.

onion skins in water with silk wrapped around a stone.

silk wrapped around a stone

I had wrapped the silk around a stone because that's what was to hand.

Silk unwrapped

here is the silk unwrapped, quite creased and showing lots of variations in colour.  Think if had tyed it tighter I might have got a more tie-dyed effect.

dry silk

Very pleased with my first solar dying experiment 'a la India'.  Need to start collection bigger vessels to make bigger bits.  And need to see how light fast it is as did not use any mordant.

Very much looking forward to the end of August as going on one of India Flint's workshops.