Eco printing and wet felting

Back by popular demand after last year's mini workshop on 'Whipping and Lacing', Caroline Lindsay this time guided us through firstly, eco printing and then wet felting with an emphasis on colour and texture.  Quite a feat to get through it all in a one-day workshop, and what a full day it was!

Eco printing

is a means of extracting the natural dyes in leaves and flowers by wrapping them in cloth around a copper pipe or wooden pole and then steaming or simmering them in water for a couple of hours.

The reveal after steaming and then unwrapping ...

Ideally, the bundles would be left overnight before unwrapping, to ensure that the maximum amount of dye has been drawn out.  Although the results can be a little unpredictable, some lovely colours and prints can be achieved.

These two examples are Caroline's own work.

Wet felting

While the bundles were happily steaming away, we got on with felt making.

We started by making pre-felts, i.e. pieces that were felted just enough to hold together, and then applied them to new pieces, creating textural effects in the process.  

This was a lot of fun, making tucks, cups, ridges, and adding silk threads and fabric strips, before felting the whole piece really well.  Thanks to Caroline's expertise and excellent tuition we packed in some great techniques and produced some exciting pieces ...

The pieces are all stunning as they are or can be further embellished with stitching, beads, silk threads, etc. .....