Midsummer Glow: Silk Scarf Botanically Printed with Leaves and Flowers

Description

Midsummer Glow is a pure silk crepe-de-chine scarf with hand-rolled hems which I printed with leaves and flowers and dyed with plant dyes. The watercolour effect of the leaves in shades of peach, golden yellow, taupe drift across the scarf as though in the heat haze of midsummer. Some beautiful thornless blackberry cultivar leaves are highlighted in a halo of cerise.

Measurements: 180cm x 35cm

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.