Magenta Queen: Pink Silk Twill Scarf Botanically Printed with Leaves and Flowers

Description

Magenta Queen is a luxurious and opulent medium-weight pure silk scarf with hand-rolled hems which I printed using local leaves and flowers and dyed with a blend of natural dyes. I printed this scarf using macleaya cordata (plume poppy), whitebeam, sambucca black lace, cotinus (smoke bush), dogwood, robinia, lilac, tulip tree, and ragwort leaves, with copper dyers’ coreopsis flowers. The overall tone is of vibrant magenta with yellow and green gold for a richly coloured accent to grace any day with.

“I like light, color, luminosity. I like things full of color and vibrant. ” ~ Oscar De La Renta

Measurements: 148cm x 40cm

Silk Twill

One of the great benefits of silk twill is that it has a wonderful drape and excellent durability for it’s weight. The very famous and prestigious Hermes of Paris silk scarves are mostly made out of the silk twill fabric.

My Process:
Natural dyeing requires very careful preparation of the fabric, to remove anything leftover from the manufacturing process, and to then treat it so that the dye colour will be long lasting. I use some powdered dye extracts as well as dyes from my own dye garden and surrounding plants. i regularly forage for leaves on my walks and from my own garden plants which I’ve selected for their printing properties. My mental map of my local area is formed around the trees and plants I have come to know and love, whether in car park, on a roundabout, deep in the forest, or outside the local scout hut! Fabric and leaves together are steamed for one to two hours to extract the pigments from the leaves and flowers leaving their beautifully detailed shapes and veining immortalised in the fabric.

Naturally dyed fabrics will fade when exposed to strong sunlight so to keep the colours bright, it is best to store your scarf somewhere away from direct light.

The colours are also best preserved by using a natural soap for washing, certainly don’t use anything that involves chemical ‘brighteners’.

Hand wash or gentle machine wash, then iron whilst still damp for best results.