My Journey
I became interested in plant dyeing in August 2020 due to covid-19 pandemic.
2020 was the very first year that I could not visit Japan to see my parents and relatives since I move to Australia permanently in 2000.
I was depressed and felt anxious about uncertain future of the crazy world.
At that time I started using organic cotton bag called ”produce bag” which is simple white bag with a draw string to keep freshness of vegetables and furits in a fridge.
But my partner was unimpressed.
He said all bags are white so he can’t tell the content in each bag!
Then I came to a wonderful idea, dye each bag in a different colour using plant materials.
In Japan, we have a traditional dyeing method called “Kusakizome” which translate to natural plant dye
Through my research, I found a simple method of dyeing using onion skins.
I never forget the excitement I felt when I saw a bright yellow colour of onion skin on a cotton bag for the first time!
It was amazing that such a beautiful colour could be extracted from something that we throw away.
From that day on, I started experimenting with dyeing using various plants such as pomegranate skin, carrot tops, walnut shells, eucalyptus bark, coffee grounds, and so on.
I found the extracted colour differed each time even using exact the same materials.
Then one day, I came to watch a video of the Youtube channel about ecoprinting.
This is the first time I knew that the plant materials can be printed on the fabric by heating.
Through searching further online, I found this amazing technique was discovered and developed by India Flint, Australian artist.
I read her beautiful book, Eco Colour.
Though there was not mucu information about how to ecoprint, at least I could easily find a plenty of eucalyptus leaves in my neighbourhood park.
I just tried and tried and tried printing with various leaves, and learnt a lot from each printing.
Interestingly, none of each my printing result was same, just like natural dye result.
Which taught me that each plant has a different characteristics just like us, each of us has a different personality.
Though there was not much information about how to ecoprint, at least I could easily find a plenty of eucalyptus leaves in my neighbourhood park.
I just tried and tried and tried printing with various leaves, and learnt a lot from each printing.
Interestingly, none of each my printing result was same, just like natural dye result.
Which taught me that each plant has a different characteristics just like us, each of us has a different personality.
Nowadays I like combining natural dye technique with ecoprinting.
There are endless possibilities and learning.
I am passionate to share my knowledge I got through many experiments with you.
Hope you will find natural dyeing and ecoprinting fascinating too!