I'm Eco Printing towels (Until They Don't Look Like a Grass Stain)

[@ShanaH414]

“Cochineal bug nuggets” needs to be a new marketing campaign. 😂

[@moonbasket]

I like the green blotchy towel next to the marigold towel. It's nice.

[@alisonhenry820]

Black kitchen towels look sharp in the right kitchen!

[@resourcedragon]

Linen normally crushes if you say "fold" two rooms away. So that says to me that your pink fabric is not pure linen if it's not holding the fold marks. And, despite that, I think it did turn out the best in the end. The cochineal bug nuggets were what made it a winner.

[@lynnbroughton2049]

Hi Jillian, Regarding your trees, my husband suggests you look up Walnut anthracnose, Maple anthracnose, and Maple Tar spot. All are fungal diseases and not fatal, but can worsen if you've had a lot of humidity.

[@sartaber]

Yep! Leaf spots aren't pretty, but it's rare for them to harm trees. It has to get so bad that the leaf spots are covering most of the leaves, or lots of leaves die & fall off, to damage the tree. Otherwise it just looks funky.

[@drewadrawing]

Evie, I would love it if you did an eco printing video using the hammering method, I'd be so curious to see how that compares to the rolling/boiling method! I'm so glad you gave this project another go, the results from this time are so lovely! I particularly love the inclusion of the cochineal!

[@melanie_meanders]

I absolutely love this!! the cochineal is my fave and i also love the detailed imprint on the iron mordanted one. the cochineal linen would be SO cool if you made a skirt the length of the longer imprint!! it would be cool to see how arranging the materials in different patterns could do! or different fabric too- maybe cotton double gauze or a sheer batiste! interested to see how it turns out if you decide to over dye some of them!! keep up the awesome fibre art experiment content, we fibre friends appreciate it! ♥️

[@KackyMuse]

Lovely choices for your fabrics. I love the way you dealt with the very wide fabric!

[@Meredith36]

Oh my goodness, those are really beautiful. Eco dying is so cool. I think you did a great job. Happy creating 💚🧶💚

[@ArwynArising]

I love the ones with color contrast! The marigold + leaves + cochneal combo is a total winner.

[@AnimeShinigami13]

The pattern I'd just completely dye. I did that with some patchwork squares my aunt sent my mom. The result was that the pattern became much bolder. I'm working on milkweed cord. It's twisted with the reverse wrap technique, which I love because I can do it waiting in line at the store or walking down the street. Immediately I can recognize some problems. I did mulberry leaf this spring. That's a copper mordant dye. You need a copper tea kettle, vinegar and water. Heat the vinegar and water in the kettle and let it sit for a couple of months. There should be a greeny blue substance at the bottom. Mix it with a dowel or whatever you use. I was expecting it to come out much worse than this the instant you said iron bath. I've done plenty of those. But I use iron supplements. The walnut really does look like a print because of the tannins. They turn black when exposed to iron. That's how walnut ink was once made, rusty iron water, oak galls and walnut hulls or leaves. But fair warning, a really well made iron solution such as made with iron supplements. Marigold yellow can be turned into various shades of green with it. But even better, ferrous sulfate is used to make rhodadendron dye, which is a lot closer to a dark mossy green in color. When I made it in spring it made grey, when I made it in winter I made green. To find out what is attacking the trees, take a picture either with google lense or send a picture to your local cooperative extension program. If you have issues with dyes after practicing, get a water quality report for your town as well as contacting the cooperative extension. Cooperative extensions are academically based programs at universities. Their job is to research issues that can crop up during land management. If a tree is sick, a pest going bonkers, or your soil seems wonky, they're the ones to call. If you need an identification of an insect, mushroom or plant, there's a good chance they know what it is. Personally I think you should turn the cochineal material into curtains!!!!

[@juliajs1752]

I have black kitchen towels. Work great, at least they don't look dingy after the slightest spill!

[@shaundaflips2482]

I have loved all of your projects this year. That is a lot of allum! I bought a small spice jar of it, and have been waiting to try natural pigment dying myself. The best was the cochneal and flowers because it is so big! I cannot wait to see what you do with it.

[@xhex6571]

Soooo pretty!!! I want to try something like this with my daughters (18 & 11)

[@AndreaAlexander]

I can't wait to see what you make with that gorgeous fabric 🐞

[@JillianEve]

Thank you! 😊

[@stitchwithbritt5922]

They are all so pretty🥰 I think the golden yellow with pink one is my favorite💕

[@TG-ms6kq]

Hi Evie, I love all these experiments, thank you for sharing. Although I am in the UK, I would have to agree with the comment about the black spots being fungal in origin. I imagine that you don't want to spray your trees as it would be a huge operation and everyone in the neighbourhood would need to spray at the same time for it to be effective. My suggestion would be to support the growth of the trees by reducing compaction at their roots. I believe Kew Gardens have explored using compressed air for this, which I find very cool. It will also be important to collect up the fallen (infected) leaves and burn them. If you can add a dressing of leaf mould made of uninfected leaves that will support the growth of beneficial fungi to help the tree heal and be more resistant in future. Pruning the tree to allow good air flow and prompt removal of dead or damaged material will also help. All this could take several seasons and your good work could be undone by inclement weather, in a good year your trees will show their appreciation. Thank you for all the wonderful videos, you are an inspiration. Best wishes Jenny

[@ArtBeatKathie]

One thing I've seen some with eco printing is to roll the pieces of fabric around a piece of pvc pipe. It allows for a really tight wrapping of the fabric and biologic material. They also would steam the items wrapped this way. I thought it was Ninja Chickens that did this... But I am not certain.

[@DAYBROK3]

Using copper gives a brighter colour than iron, as iron ‘saddens’ the dye

[@nz-nz]

Lovely!!!! They all turned out great 👍

[@carollalicker]

The large linen is great as it is😊

[@kaytiej8311]

These adventures from your garden are gorgeous. I love that you've made conscious choices about this. There is something so organic and satisfying about it all.

[@pamfrank3962]

Fabulous results ❤

[@AmulekkofWOW90]

I've been subscribed for a while now. It's my goal to learn all the crafts heehee: pottery, cheese making, (I've been making wine already), etc. Spinning has been something I've wanted to learn for years now. I love old timey crafts, and old timey tools that use fly wheels (I use a treddle powered sewing machine) After years of searching, I have finally acquired an antique spinning wheel. He couldn't tell me much about it, other than it was his mother's that he had inherited. Sat in his garage, unused, for 40 years. I hope to restore it soon and put it back to work. That being said, I need to learn to crochet again. Learned it decades ago as a teen, didn't stick with it, gotta relearn it again lol. You have any videos for learning to crochet? 😊

[@JillianEve]

I don't, but I highly recommend my KZbin friend Alysha's channel, @littlejohnsyarn for awesome crochet content. 😊

[@wyrdness1]

plants and cactus lice oh my!

[@GoingGreenMom]

I buy bar mop cotton towels for kitchen towels. I started with white, they stain so fast. My next was blue, they fade a bit but work pretty well, and then my third round I got yellow. They haven't faded and since I use blue and white for staining type stuff the yellow isnt staining as bad. My next color will be chocolate brown. General coloring of my kitchen is sort of sun drenched Tuscan countryside.... brick red, light golden wheat , sage green, cornflower blue. Figure the brown will go well.

[@c0ldlight1]

Oh I love this so much!!! I’ve only done this a few times and I want to again now. So cool! I think I am in love with your pink bug nuggets. I have some left over from a project, but not enough to dye much fabric. Now I know exactly what I’m doing with them 😀 I also love the color that the marigold gives.

[@bonniehyden962]

In the videos I've watched ... I've not gotten to actually trying eco printing... they've smashed their plant matter with a hammer. They've also used plastic wrap on the fabric before rolling to keep plants from bleeding through when rolled. And yes, I plan on actually trying this soon.

[@ktotolishniy]

Hi, Eve! You're look so good with this haie style! Regarding the kitchen towels. I have dark brown one, it's really good thing, so, if you decide to overdiye it, it will be usefull and cute)

[@jeanneb6320]

Being more mindful of the negative space worked out great!

[@dianathefiberfan]

All came out nice. I like the fabric on the left the best.

[@jayneterry8701]

Spring dress.

[@maggiehaddon1457]

I’ve just watched your whorl vid from last year. Good to see yah …looking good. I didn’t do very well with eco printing either., hey ho x

[@Koroblin]

im so excited your going to Peru! As someone who has family in Peru who spin yarn, I'm exited for you to visit and get some cool stuff! Have fun! eat lots of yummy food!

[@wooldancer]

I always find such value in learning from experienced artists. Louise from Gumnut Magic is highly skilled in eco printing on cotton, linen and all plant-based fibres especially. I learned to eco print on protein-based fabrics with India Flint. As a tutor in art yarn spinning and dyeing, I will always recommend instruction from experts as their knowledge of materiality is invaluable.

[@nicolelafontaine1720]

I love all your experiments !!!

[@melanie_meanders]

yay! evie! eco printing!

[@morningrose428]

My brain is stuck on the idea of stitch marker charm bracelets. I need to make this.

[@abigayle2370]

Great title!

[@alisonhenry820]

My first result in experimentation with eco dying resulted in very blurry and blended colours too. For me the cause ended up being steaming for too long. A shorter steam time, even as short as 20-30minutes, resulted in crisper transfer of plant colours and images in my experience.

[@kims5996]

You need to put plastic sheets inbetween when you roll up your work It prevents your collors bleeding through

[@melanie_meanders]

such a good idea! do you just use plastic wrap? or something heavier

[@kitterzy]

One thing that has saved my failed natural dyed woven towels that is another natural dye: walnut. Walnut (fermented nut) as an overdye of your failed ecoprint could create something other than a grass stain. Also, I never use metal to dye in. Enamel coated is better so that your mordant doesn’t interact with it. Especially copper.

[@MoniqueAO888]

Very interesting video...thanx for sharing 🙂🥀🥬

[@erikagreenwell9892]

the cochineal!!!'

[@maherboudargham5717]

Hello from lebanon

[@DAYBROK3]

I know you know but make sure to scour do not use fabric softener and tansy is a good yellow. Alum is a base mordant though tossing a piece of clean copper pipe gives a nice colour change, if you want to lean into the browning use iron nails. Also leaves from trees of the prunis variety, cherry for example, have a good yellow, some corn pollen gives colours too

[@lorainew4281]

Hi Evie! Yes, people still wear charm bracelets! Susan makes great baskets, I have several as well! They are irresistible! Question: was the fabric damp or dry when you laid the flowers/leaves on? My spinning guild had an eco-dying project several years ago, and we used 3 different liquids (one was iron, I can't remember the other two🤷‍♀) to wet the leaves for different effects and/or colors. We used silk scarves and they came out really nice! I like how your linen fabric turned out the best, and I'll be interested to see what you end up making with it. Thanks for another great video!

[@didelphimorphia2925]

Hiiiiii!!!! Missed you so much! ❤

[@Adephonsus]

I did like the green one. There is a very mossy feel to it that contrast with the mathematical patterned stain.

[@A3Kr0n]

Eco dying? No, that's my kitchen towel.

[@audreydeneui192]

The cool thing about dye experiments is, to paraphrase Forrest Gump, you never know what you are going to get; the results are one of a kind. Walnut leaves/hulls or tea bags (because tannin) mixed with alum (which you can also get in the spice aisle at the grocery -- it's used to can pickles) should make a nice color fast mordant for bast /plant fibered cloth. I loved seeing how the cochineal bits came out! Are your trees black or English walnut? Walnut hulls make a beautiful brown-green dye.

[@resourcedragon]

I've not seen alum in among the spices in Australia but that may well be because I've not looked for it! So I'll have to have a careful look next time I go to a supermarket. (I've been ordering groceries online a lot recently, due to being immunocompromised due to chemo.) Thank you for the tip.

[@audreydeneui192]

@@resourcedragon I've never been to Australia. It may not be available at all times of the year, either.

[@GoingGreenMom]

What do you overdye with?

[@RandomAFP]

Sorry if I just missed it (am out of ADHD meds), but which sort of alum were you using? I've seen conflicting things about whether the sort of alum that works well on wool works on plant fibres, and I found it gave very disappointing results, especially with linen. Haven't got round to trying the other type of alum yet, I was supposed to be having a dye day with a friend but schedules haven't matched up yet.

[@elderberrybear5718]

Bug nuggets! 😂

[@Marialla.]

I'm sorry, but I can't agree that the greenish color came out pretty at all. The pink is okay. But the green looks ... well... It looks like the kind of stain you'd be trying to wash out of a child's clothes. Maybe the color isn't coming across the same on my computer screen as it looks in real life, but from my end I can only feel uncomfortable about it. I really like you, Evie, and I hate that I'm saying something not positive. But I'm afraid you may be favoring it because you'd be frustrated to have wasted so much time and effort. But I would tell my best friend right now to step away and let it sit for a good long while to see it with fresh eyes before continuing. Do you actually think this color is good? I think you'd be better served by overdyeing the entire thing to conceal the color.

[@melanie_meanders]

i respectfully disagree. this isn’t about predictability or solid colour.. it’s about getting natural colour and imprints out of materials. a lot of these experiments are honouring age old practices and are just that- experiments. i think she was very successful in extracting colour and print from the materials she dyed with.

[@Marialla.]

I absolutely respect your position, and hers. The value of the experiment is not my call to make AT ALL. Honestly, I skipped straight to the end to see the results before even watching the video. I was interested to see what colors and patterns resulted. But what I saw made me think I wouldn't be happy using that fabric in that state. But my opinion is only my own, and I absolutely support others' right to have a different opinion from me.

[@resourcedragon]

@@melanie_meanders: I'm not sure that eco-dyeing is an age old process, at least in Europe. The reason I say that is that I was watching some videos about fabric history and printed fabric was actually banned in Europe not long after it was first imported from India. The issue was that the European weavers and dyers couldn't complete with the Indian ones and so laws to protect their industries were introduced. If eco-printing had been a thing back then then I would expect that the laws would have been framed differently and we'd also have some evidence of eco-printing or something like it. That eco-printing is a new process (and the name does suggest that it is) does not make it any less valid than older processes, it just means it's not age old.