ECO-DYEING GONE WILD - PART I

ECO-DYE BANNERS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

thrifted linens, cottons and silks w/ windfall & edibles

After these beginners chose all their thrifted fabrics for their banners,

a bit of soy milk mordant was in order.

Only oops,

I forgot it was a Friday,

and that the fabrics would have to sit over the weekend;

2 full warm days unrefrigerated.

So when the kids got back on Monday there was CHEESEY GOODNESS.

LOL

Poor senior Hapshiba Kwon was trying to keep herself from gagging,

it was so darn disgusting.

And man oh man,

 did the room stink!!!

They all had to squeeze out the excess soy before beginning the dye process.

Needless to say the sinks and trashcans looked brutal after they were done.

Good thing stuff like this doesn't bother me,

toughens you right up  :)

The students were required to bring in windfall from home and neighbors houses.

I also encouraged them to ransack their mother's pantry for spices.

And many of them brought in fruits and vegetables as well.

There were at least 15 different vintage fabrics to choose from along with

long pieces of silk in various forms;

raw, china, and other mixes.

I also put out white and off-white perle cottons

in size 12,

that they stuck in their bundles so they would dye as well;

 later on they would be able to sew with string that matched.

I also liked that they stopped off at Starbucks for coffee grounds,

 and thought to bring in various teas as well.

I was really impressed with the amount of effort these kids put into their collections.

Most of the students made only one bundle,

stacking it tall with many layers of fabrics & dyestuff's.

But I told the kids they could make as many bundles as they wanted.

A couple made two.

Then they had to decide which brew they wanted me to simmer their bundles in.

Their choices were ornamental plum (dark maroon)

windfall that had broken off up at the cabin during a big wind storm.

Or perhaps the blueberry dye bath from the grocery store (dark blue/purples),

or maybe the Eucalyptus (reddish browns) that I always make

 from the windfall around my classroom.

Of course senior Elias Rodriquez

is limiting his choices to mostly brownish black dyestuff's

 cuz that's how he likes to roll  :)

I had them roll their bundles over copper piping 

or pieces of wood I collected in the forest.

Several of them brought in foodstuffs

that dyed up beautifully as you will see tomorrow in Part II.

And here we have all the bundles after about two hours of slowly simmering

in their chosen dye bath.

The ones in the foreground were put in the Eucalyptus,

 the mid section bundles went into the blueberries, 

and the ones in the far background were brewed up in Ornament Plum.

The room smelt heavenly of cinnamon and coffee,

and Vicks Vapo Rub (the Eucalyptus).

I didn't allow the kids to open the bundles until two weeks had past

to make sure that MAGIC happened.