Eucalypts of Narrogin - Art, Science and Story
Leaf picking decisions : Fresh, Frozen or Dry?
Leaves of E. cladocalyx
A fresh
B picked fresh and dehydrated
C picked fresh and frozen
D picked dry from the ground
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What we decided: As we were looking for colour rather than just brown tones, we decided that we would collect fresh or newly fallen leaves, weigh and bag them ready for rehydration as needed.
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L-R: Fresh leaves, picked fresh and dehydrated, picked fresh and frozen and old dried leaves off the ground.
Process​
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All mordants were added to 1L water, fabric added and simmered gently for an hour before cooling.
All pots: 100g leaves/2L water, brought to boil, mordanted (as per the above chart) cotton and silk were added and the leaves simmered 1hr and cooled before removing and rinsing the cloth.
RESULTS:
A&B 1st cook - Mostly soft beige results, nothing startling but with very similar results.
A&B 2nd cook - As these were very similar, pots A&B were put together and a set of cotton, silk and wool (no mordant used) was added. This was simmered (very low) for an hour and then turned off in the pot and left overnight. The results were very similar to the original unmordanted dye although the shade created was slightly deeper.
A&B 3rd cook - This was replicated yet again with deeper results.
C 1st cook – This row has yellow under-tones.
C 2nd cook– Swatches of cotton, silk and wool (no mordant) were added. This was simmered (very low) for an hour and then turned off and left in the pot overnight. The yellow tones have gone. Warmer beige/caramel tones were created, stronger on the wool, slightly lighter on silk, soft on cotton.
C 3rd cook – The above was repeated but the resultant dye was an all over softer tone.
D 1st cook – These were similar colours to A&B but slightly deeper plummy/brown tones.
D 2nd cook– Swatches of cotton, silk and wool (no mordant) were added. This was simmered (very low) for an hour and then turned off and left in the pot overnight. Whereas the original plum tones have gone, replaced with similar caramel tones as per frozen C, although not as dramatic.
D 3rd cook– The above was repeated. Cotton was similar to cook 2, although wool and silk were slightly darker.
As we were looking for colour rather than just brown tones we decided that we would collect fresh or newly fallen leaves, weigh and bag them ready for rehydration as needed.
Terms used: WOF - weight of fabric, As – aluminium sulphate, Fe – iron sulphate, Cu – copper sulphate.
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