harvesting colour – more colour from the pickle jar

poetry and prose about place

harvesting colour – more colour from the pickle jar

One more dyeing project with the pickle jar! I am growing impatient, waiting for the growing season to begin so I can collect plants for my dyeing projects. So, I looked around my house and decided to use some of the various jars of rose petals and other flowers I have dried over the years.

a jar of rose petals and other flowers from a saved bouquet (the fabric is the silk I intend to dye)

For fabric, I decided to use the square of silk I purchased for the project back in February. From my reading, I know that silk accepts dye very well and responds well to an acidic dye bath.

First I soaked the silk in tepid water to prepare the fibres to accept the dye. I decided this fabric has already been prepared with mordant. If not, I can always add the mordant later.

Then I spread the petals on the fabric, spraying as I went with a weak solution of cider vinegar.

rose petals, scattered on the silk

I added some other dried flower petals from another bouquet. Then I rolled the fabric and petals very tightly.

a roll of silk and flower petals, sprayed with vinegar and ready for the pickle jar

As with my last project ( https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/harvesting-colour-onion-yellow/ ), I had trouble stuffing the roll into the jar. Once I had the silk crammed into the jar, I added more vinegar solution to the jar and closed it.