What is eco printing? A direct contact dye technique which coaxes the natural pigments from plants with heat. I use mostly leaves, but prints can also be made from bark, flowers, berries, and other plant parts. The dye from some plants and trees, like the black walnut tree, are strong dyes that don’t easily wash out or fade in the sun. Those are called substantive dyes. Other plants produce color that doesn’t last on the fabric and are called fugitive dyes. Most berries and flowers fall into the fugitive dye category. The key (and the fun!) is in experimenting with local plants.
Before: Sumac, Eucalyptus, Rose + other leaves laid out on silk
After: Eco Print with Sumac, Eucalyptus, Rose & other leaves on iron mordanted silk
Eco printed silk scarves with oak, maple, eucalyptus, rose, butternut leaves
For blog posts about eco printing, click Home. Thanks for visiting!
View eco prints in my ETSY SHOP.
A Few Resources on Eco Printing and Natural Dyes:
MAIWA Guide to Natural Dyes
No Serial Number online magazine
Terri Kwong blog
Books:
India Flint‘s book, Eco Colour, got me started.
Wild Colour by Jenny Dean – my manual for natural dyes and mordants.
– Mordanting instructions for natural dyes on the website.
Thanks to Jeanne Manrique, Fiber Artist in St. Paul for her 1:1 instruction, helping me move from reading about eco printing to action!
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