Eco colour

I recently bought this book - by India Flint - as a birthday present for myself.  After more than ten years of increasing devotion and love for natural dyeing I finally found a book in which a deep respect, consideration and responsibility for Mother Earth goes hand in hand with thoroughness, knowledge, ingenuity, and a talent for storytelling. She has a wonderful sense of beauty, and the ability to create fabrics and clothes that are both rustic and magical in their beauty.
I am in awe, and deeply inspired by this talented woman!

 This is some of my initial experiments dyed on wool and silk fabrics.

 Since my children were babes I've been saving their woolen stockings (or is it called tights/leggins) and underwear. I have a hard time throwing anything away, and even more so things that has been such a comfort and joy and kept my babes snug and protected. So I cut up (the remnants of) their discarded (read: several times mended and worn to pieces) clothes and drop the little pieces in a dye bath once in a while. Someday I hope to make a quilt. I would like to have a quilt made from fabric that has sucked up some of the softness and warmth of my babies skin to comfort me when I get old.

Re-using has - for my part - entered a new era. Here is my first try with Indias method, and I'm so happy with the result. My youngest had outgrown this silk cap and wool/silk undershirt. Too good for cutting up, so I bundled it with some Acer pseudoplatanus (da: ahorn) leaves and seed pods. The cap is dyed with leaves of Solidago canadensis - goldenrod (da: gyldenris). A happy, bright yellow.

After some eco dyeing it is suitable for a little fairy creature of some sort.

I'm so happy to have found a kindred spirit through a book, as well as  new inspiration for natural dyeing in many years to come!